“Keepers”
Cats: Heart of a Mother, Heart of a Woman, Heart of the Holidays, Stories|I grew up with practical grandparents who had been frightened by the Great Depression in the 1930’s. A grandmother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a Name for it.. A grandfather who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Grandpa in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Grandma 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 repairing, 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 grandfather died, and on that clear fall 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….. And 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. Good friends are like stars . . . you don’t always see them, but you know they are always there.
-Author Unknown
November 29th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
During the Holidays we all receive many greetings and cards reminding us about lifelong friendships. This is one of the most descriptive of those of us who are now in our 70s, whose lives were affected by the Great Depression and WW-II. My mother’s parents Pater and Katrina Schmal were German/ Russian decent who were born and grew up on the Volga River in Czarist Russia. They knew the pain of the terrible winters in Russia and near starvation, only to once again face this monster during the Great Depression in America. During our lifetimes we all make many choices … some good … some not so good, but our life long friends are always there for us … Happy Holidays and Thank You for Being My Friend.
Jim MacDonald, November 2007