Keepers

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends

       lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee

       shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand,

       and dish-towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things. A

       curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem

       in a dress. Things we keep.

       It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that

       re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful.

       Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd

       always be more.

       But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the

       warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning

       that sometimes there isn't any more.

       Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes

       away...never to return. So... While we have it... it's best we love

       it... And care for it.... And fix it when it's broken..... And heal

       it when it's sick.

       This is true... For marriage.... And old cars.... And children with

       bad report cards..... Dogs and cats with bad hips.... And aging

       parents.... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth

       it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend

       that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

       There are just some things that make life important, like people we

       know who are special.... And so, we keep them close!

       I received this from someone who thinks I am a 'keeper', so I've

       sent it to the people I think of in the same way... Now it's your

       turn to send this to those people that are 'keepers' in your life.

       Send it back to the person that sent it to you if they too are a

       keeper.

       Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you

       know they are always there.