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[REGGAB]

(Please let me add this caveat as a modification to the original post.  This is NOT my prose.  I'm nowhere near talented enough to write like this, and most times I am incapable of thinking like this.  The older I get though...........the more I realize just how IMPORTANT the things we think are "little" really are.  I miss my Mom.  I wasn't done with her when she departed this life.  I was 12K miles away..........and I never got to say "good-bye."  My point is this:  TREASURE those people.............and those things................important to you, enjoy them, have fun, lighten up, be tolerant, LISTEN, try to understand, don't be so critical........because one day one of two things is going to happen:  You'll go, or they'll go!
I realize I've just said a few things on which I need much work........most require a belt sander, but I'm trying.
So enjoy this bit of prose.  It certainly struck my heart.  To the unknown author.............THANK YOU for the lesson.)


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 house dress; lawn mower in his hand, and dish-towel in hers. 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 aging 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!

[ultrafxr]

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 house dress; lawn mower in his hand, and dish-towel in hers. 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 aging 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!

So true Henry, so very, very true.  Thanks for the post.

[bbrown]

Nice...

[Fired00d]

Kudos Henry. Great post.

 
Ride Safe,
Fired00d
 

[elvislee]

(Please let me add this caveat as a modification to the original post.  This is NOT my prose.  I'm nowhere near talented enough to write like this, and most times I am incapable of thinking like this.  The older I get though...........the more I realize just how IMPORTANT the things we think are "little" really are.  I miss my Mom.  I wasn't done with her when she departed this life.  I was 12K miles away..........and I never got to say "good-bye."  My point is this:  TREASURE those people.............and those things................important to you, enjoy them, have fun, lighten up, be tolerant, LISTEN, try to understand, don't be so critical........because one day one of two things is going to happen:  You'll go, or they'll go!
I realize I've just said a few things on which I need much work........most require a belt sander, but I'm trying.
So enjoy this bit of prose.  It certainly struck my heart.  To the unknown author.............THANK YOU for the lesson.)


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 house dress; lawn mower in his hand, and dish-towel in hers. 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 aging 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!

Is it a coincidence this post appeared today as I was awoken this morning by a phone call from my brother informing me my mother had passed away last night?...How true these words posted by Thumpin 107 are.

I knew it was coming; Alzheimer's is a bad thing.

 As I finished talking to my brother I sat back and reflected for a few moments be for I told my grandsons. I thought back to when I was 8 (1961) years old living way out in the woods in Meridian, Mississippi. I vividly recalled that night when My mother sitting on the front porch smiling as she shelled purple hull peas, my dad next to her sharpening his chain saw, and my two brothers and I catching lighting bugs in mason jars as the night ski was lit so beautifully with every star of the constellation shining so bright.

Isn't it a wonder how we remember what sometimes seems the most simplest of moments in life; when in fact they could be the most important...Please...no reponses to this post as I just felt the urge to express it...Hug those you love and tell them how much you love them.

[Sean M Cary]

Is it a coincidence this post appeared today as I was awoken this morning by a phone call from my brother informing me my mother had passed away last night?...How true these words posted by Thumpin 107 are.

I knew it was coming; Alzheimer's is a bad thing.

 As I finished talking to my brother I sat back and reflected for a few moments be for I told my grandsons. I thought back to when I was 8 (1961) years old living way out in the woods in Meridian, Mississippi. I vividly recalled that night when My mother sitting on the front porch smiling as she shelled purple hull peas, my dad next to her sharpening his chain saw, and my two brothers and I catching lighting bugs in mason jars as the night ski was lit so beautifully with every star of the constellation shining so bright.

Isn't it a wonder how we remember what sometimes seems the most simplest of moments in life; when in fact they could be the most important...Please...no reponses to this post as I just felt the urge to express it...Hug those you love and tell them how much you love them.

My condolences!!!  I will say a prayer for her. 

As many on the list already know my dad just died in April after battling cancer for over a year - he waited until I returned from my second deployment to Iraq and I had his SERK.  He was in so much pain, when he knew all was secure he let go. 

I miss him a ton, but I get to ride his SERK pretty much everyday and think of him every time I ride. 

Sean

[ccr]

Thank you fine gentelmen for your reflective words.

I miss my Granparents, all four of them.  Jamey still has a Grandmother with us and we try to see her at least once a year.

I miss my Mom and his Dad.  We try to see the Mom and Dad that are with us when we can. 

I miss two Aunts and one Uncle.  Do not get to see those still here hardly at all.

Have a cousin who has left us too early, and I try to stay connected with the rest at least virtually.

Brothers and Sisters are hard to keep up with too.  Everyone seems to be scattered to the winds all over this great earth.  Need to work harder on that.

You are so right, it is up to us to do what we can to share our lives, our loves and our failures with our loved ones when we can.  Cause when we can't, that hole is unfillable.

[Gettinold]

Henry thats a great post, a real "Keeper".

                                Dave

[iski]

Henry - Great post, Bro, and it made me think.  Thanks for posting it.   

My Dad died when I was 16, and as you posted, I was nowhere near done.  Took a long time to sort it out since we did not leave each others company on the best of terms or the best of times.  As I grew older and found myself making the same mistakes I had noticed he had made, it made me stop and look at life differently.  So, that being said, I have a chain saw that still needs sharpening but chose to do something else with that time instead with folks who matter.  But the damn thing will not sharpen itself...