I am passing this on to all the "keepers" in my life......
I grew up with practical parents who had been frightened by the Great Depression in the 1930's. A mother, 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, before it was fashionable, or politically correct....A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.
Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barley 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, dish towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things: a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven, a hem in a dress. Things we keep.
It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy! All that repairing & renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there would always be more.
But then my father died, and on that cold fall night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't anymore.
Sometimes what we care about 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 old friends...and children with bad report cards...and lonely neighbors...and dogs and cats with bad hips...and aging parents & 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...Like a beloved family member, no matter how close or far away. Those are the things that make life important...people we know who enrich and bless our lives, those who participate in making precious memories with us...ALL those we love.
I think of you in this way, you are my "keepers".
Good friends are like stars...You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.
"working"
the complete ensemble
(astronauts have to exercise!)
Bronson is having an awesome year in school! For the space unit, part of the classroom (the playhouse)was transformed into a space ship! Real working appliances transformed into shuttle equipment, computer monitors with changing space scenes as they looked out the "windows", astronaut outfits, etc. They even had job assignments-fixing "parts" and doing research! I was blown away! It was AWESOME! I wish i was a kid so I could play in it! They sang songs and told facts about space & every planet for the parent program!! You would be amazed at the things he can tell you about Jupiter, the sun, or asteroids & other "space junk". They ate space food and did experiments. He of course wants to be an astronaut when he grows up. So fun to hear what these little minds retain! Lookin' good, Space Boy!
