HOME

 

Everything that can be boxed is boxed, the rugs are rolled,

the walls once a kaleidoscope of colors…are back to being walls

I’m awake before the dawn…listening to echoes as I walk the halls.

And I wonder how in this house now cloaked inside a silent shroud

Deborah is still sleeping…because the echoes are so loud.

40 years of echoes…finding their way to me.

Echoes of all who’ve lived or visited here…

echoes of our friends and family.

I love how hearing how the echoes in this old house have survived…

helps to keep the memories of the people who created them…alive.

 When I listen to these echoes as through these halls I roam

I am reminded of the voices that made this house a home.

The great thing about echoes…as into my brain they fall…

since they echo only in my heart and mind…

they are not confined within these walls.

Which means when we move away tomorrow…

to begin an adventure familiar…but brand new…

40 years of echoes are moving with us too.

The ultimate beauty of an echo is how they are ours…and ours alone

we are forever linked and near them.

They are stored somewhere within our heart

in a place where only we can hear them.

So…when we move our furniture and boxes into the new place we will dwell…

It’s comforting to know these echoes from the past 

will move with us as well.

OUR DAUGHTER AND TWO SONS

 

Our three children came together recently and our spirits couldn’t be higher

because our children now adults don’t get together as much as we desire.

It reminded us how lucky we are because from the time they were little ones

We’ve always been proud to say, “This is our daughter and these are our two sons.” 

We remember how our first wish for them was to live a long and happy life

where they’d be safe and healthy…and relatively free from strife.

Yet somewhere in the back of our minds…in a place no-one else could see

we dreamt of the life they’d be leading…of the people they would be.

We had a vision for their life…that remained in our hearts…unstated

until our vision was replaced by the vision they created.

We gladly ceded our dreams to theirs…and their individual points of view

because for as long as there have been parents and children… 

that is exactly what we do.

And we feel good knowing they’ve been healthy and happy

and lucky to have been by their side…

while they have made their way through life on their own roller coaster rides.

When it comes to parenting Harry Truman had a unique way to view it…

He said the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want

and then advise them all to do it.

That has worked for us…following Harry’s simple rule of Thumb

from the time our three children as children

to the adults they have become…

Because…as we did before they were adults

when the were little ones…

we are still just as proud to exclaim today:

This is our daughter and these are our two sons.

THE ELASTICITY OF THE HEART

 Ali, our daughter, is also moving to the mountains…although she loves the water 

to be close and to be a part of the life of her grand-daughter.

So we’ve all been on a kind of goodbye tour…a tour that’s about to end

as we’ve been taking time to say goodbye to family and friends.

Yesterday we attended a party for Ali…where we saw many people hug

and many people cry

knowing this might be the final time before she moves…

they had to say goodbye.

And even though we all know this goodbye is not permanent…

we will see each other again…we will find a way…

as we say hello a new adventure…

it is goodbye to the life we knew yesterday.

But we’ve ll had friends and family move away…and have found when we’re apart

the resiliency of our souls…and the elasticity of our hearts.

We find that once our hearts and souls connect with family and friends….

we are forever linked with a connection that never ends.

That connection, once attached, strengthened through joys and sorrow

through all the tears and smiles…

does not fall apart or break…but stretches across the miles.

This explains how even when people move away…across miles that are vast…

as they head off to a new future…they’re still connected to their past.

And when they meet again…when their lives cross or intersect

it explains how easily their hearts and souls so quickly reconnect.

As I watched Ali and her friends in this midst of their goodbyes 

watched the way they held onto hugs a little longer and how tears filled up their eyes.

Not knowing the next time they will see each other…the next time they will meet

I realized what makes saying goodbye…so difficult…so bittersweet

The bitterness goes from knowing we are about to be apart…

The sweetness because we understand the elasticity of the heart.

CALI

 “Let’s walk a different way this morning.” Deborah happily exclaimed.

Which proved to be serendipitous  

because we met a man and his golden retriever…Cali was her name.

Cali immediately reminded us of Whitman, our golden..thus…

we were elated when she ran right up to us. 

As we loved on Cali at the beginning of this beautiful day

so many memories of Whitman…chose to come out and play. 

As we petted her and she dog-smiled

we witnessed her companion’s pride and jubilation.

Then we shared some memories of Whitman…

and a little conversation.

As they walked away from us when the conversation was through

We remembered things about Whitman that, today, we find ring true.

We remember fondly how this adopted dog found his way into our hearts

a little more and more each day

how our life was changed for the better…

how cancer gradually took him away. 

He reminded us life is short an when it was his time to leave,

he taught us about sorrow…he taught us how to grieve.

He taught us how life must go on…and that once we bid adieu…

how grieving is not something we get over…

it’s something we try to muddle through.

He taught us to imagine heaven differently

at least the heaven we prefer…

how some of the angels up in heaven…

have wings made out of fur.

As we turned and watched them walking down the lane…

we thought of how Whitman’s lessons continue to be far-reaching

and we smiled as we imagined all the lessons…

Cali will be teaching.

255

 

Some interesting statistics that have to do with birth:

Every minute of the day 255 babies are born upon this Earth.

255 babies with different nationalities, different colors…different names

but every one of those 255 babies are humans…all the same.

255 babies a mother, father and a family welcome and hold dear. 

That’s 363,000 babies born each day and 133 million born each year.

Every minute 255 families who, as this new life they perceive,

begin to enjoy this amazing creation…begin to marvel…to believe.

Every minute 255 families are excited…to hold a life so new

that includes, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles…

grandparents and great-grandparents too.

Every minute 255 families have found a reason for their smile to beam

255 families filled with wonder…filled with wishes, hopes and dreams.

255 families finding reasons to enjoy this moment of happiness 

to think of all the happiness they have in store…

and to marvel at how every minute…the world is welcoming 255 more.

Every minute when we look around the world at all the people trying to survive…

and we see the the poverty, war and prejudice we’ve produced

we should think of these 255.

and wonder how many of our babies born each minute to a family that’s elated

will survive beyond their childhood…in the world we have created.

It should be our duty…from the minute of their birth…

to make all 255 babies feel safe and happy to have been born upon this Earth.

And if they don’t…if the world we have created makes some scared…

makes some of those families and babies sob…

then isn’t it our duty…

to do a better job.