From a distance, you couldn’t tell the difference between John and Anthony. Just two boys standing on the street corner outside their school. They talked about sports, girls and fishing. They were laughing and joking while they waited for their parents. They shared each other’s phone numbers and said they’d get together. Soon their rides arrived and John got into a red Ford F150 while Anthony hopped into the backseat of a blue Prius. When they reached the stoplight, the red truck took a right turn and the blue car turned left. The boys never spoke to each other again
Tag: life
The only truth is love…
When my first child was born I asked him, “What role will you play in the world?”
He said to me, “I will show the world where to look for truth.”
When my second child was born I asked her, “What role will you play in the world?”
She replied, “I will teach the children to learn the truth.”
When my third child entered the world I asked him, “What role will you play in the world?”
He told me, “I will tell the world how to live their life in truth.”
When my last child was born I asked him, “What role will you play in the world?”
He answered, “I will show the world the beauty that lies in truth.”
My wife asked me, “What role did we play in the world?”
I told her, “We gave them the passion to seek the truth.”
Treasure hunting…
In an attempt to normalize my retirement into something a little less complicated and chaotic, I decided it was time to do some decluttering around the old homestead. So I headed off on a mission to get rid of anything no longer useable. I scrounged around in the forgotten corners of everyday living. Pulled down old boxes hidden away on closet shelves. Rummaged through various ‘junk’ drawers filled with unrecognizable items and hauled out all those totes of neglected memories that were long ago stuffed into the darkest pits of uselessness…known as the basement and attic.
At first glance, I believed them to be just more clutter that would soon be headed for the trash container. Things like plastic bins of pens with no ink, sticky note pads that no longer had any stick and dried up colored markers that had been saved away so many years ago… because who knew when they might come in handy. Most of these were disposed of quickly. This was going to be one of those ‘honey do’ weekend tasks that I would make short work of and be done with in time to watch the ball game.
But as I sifted through the various totes and containers, I realized that each memento once occupied the center stage of the drama we call ‘our lives’. Things that had been so important to us that they were worth lugging around the world as we moved from one house to another. There were so many memories of our past lives hiding away in those boxes and totes. Trophies that I am not sure which child won them, photographs of people whose faces I had forgotten. Pressed flowers from prom’s and weddings, half-written stories and poems, love letters sent and received.
I learned some valuable lesson buy reading those old poems and examining the faces of those people that were with us in our childhood. They all told me a story. Stories about who we were so many years ago and how we became the people we are today. So I returned each box to its former place of honor. Perhaps someday, after we have no need for mementos or memories, our grandchildren will go through all our boxes of treasures. Just maybe, they will get a little bit better understanding of who we were. I hope it brings a smile to their heart.
Quick to Forget
For a couple of weeks the phone calls and cards expressed sympathies. Then as suddenly as death itself, they stopped. For the next year, things reminded me of her; a favorite song on the radio or someone would cook a dish she liked. Now, I only remember her twice a year. On her birthday I tweet she would’ve been 104. I wish her a happy birthday in Heaven. As if they had birthdays in Heaven. On the anniversary of her death I post on Facebook how I miss her and quickly scroll on to the next newsfeed.
Oh look…tiny goats.
In the winter of our lives there is still love…
I asked you this morning how you felt
Though I already knew the answer
You smiled and gave me eggs and sausage
I did not need to ask for them
Jerry Brotherton 