Body: 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 housedress, lawn mower in one hand, and dishtowel 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 ageing 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
>> >
>> >
>> > People are made to be Loved and Things are made to be Used
>> >
>> >
>> > There is so much confusion in this World because People are being Used
> and Things are being Loved.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > 'The will of God will
>> > never take you
>> > where the Grace of God will not protect you.
