TWO OLD COOKIE SHEETS

We never know where our thoughts will lead us 

down which lane our memories will be stirred.

Sometimes it’s a photo, a smell, a taste…

sometimes a song…sometimes a word.

Yesterday my memory was piqued…

which caused my heart to skip a beat,

when, as part of cleaning the dishes, 

I was drying our two old cookie sheets.

Just by looking at these cookie sheets it’s quite easy to deduce

by the marks of age that cover them…they have seen a lot of use…

I smiled when I thought about how Deborah and these cookie sheets endear…

and I stopped to wonder how many cookies they have baked in 30 years.

She’s baked for family…for friends…

for years her cookie batter’s flowed…

and all the time these two cookie sheets have shouldered all the load.

She’s baked for our children and now our grandchildren.

cookies…delicious, warm and sweet

and long ago these two metal trays became much more than cookie sheets…

For they have grown old along with us.

They’ve seen us through laughter…and through tears

and it is my hope they will be baking cookies

for another 30 years…

Yes, I love never knowing where my thoughts may lead me…

down which memory lane…or boulevard…or street…

and I’m glad they chose to pause today

on these two old cookie sheets.