Humor me for a few minutes. I need someone to listen to me.

My grandmother's award for graduating high school in 1906.  I have seen these in many antique stores for $10. My offspring do not want this to part of their inheritance.  What to do with this?

Humor me for a few minutes.

Take a look around your blogging spot.  Then walk around your kitchen and bathrooms.  Walk through all the other rooms.  Then think: What do I really need from these rooms?  What could be ditched without a thought?

This is a surprising and eye-opening activity.  At least, it was for me.  Why did we buy that?  Why are we keeping a hand imprint of our 40 year old daughter? A clock that stopped working last year? A plate from Mexico? 

Stuff. That's all it all is. Stuff from a trip we scarcely remember and stuff placed there because we had no other spot--why are we holding onto it all?

Strange how 27 years ago we moved to this house when our youngest daughter was eight, middle child Johnny was eleven, and older daughter was changing into a confused fourteen year old.  They grew up, stepped into careers, and moved away. The pool grew silent along with the house.

This leads us to look at communities for us semi-old folks and move.

First we will go to Home Depot for quality boxes, load up bags of stuff for Good Will, and call for a pick-up from Disabled Veterans. Second, we...we..really, I don't know how to take the next step. 

Thanks for humoring me.  I appreciate that.

We have looked at this boulder for 27 years.  My dad called it the "boar's tooth".  

Our orange tree was already 20 years old when we moved here.

Our fireplace, with grandson's toys

Of course, I realize there will be another fireplace, another place 

for the Christmas tree. Oranges can't be replaced, and the 

Boar's Tooth must stay.  There will be photos and sweet

memories.

The sunset we see from over the ocean.

Our Christmas tree 2014

B is for Before....by Yehuda Amichai

Before the gate has been closed,

        Before the last question is posed,

Before I am transposed.

        Before the weeds fill the gardens,

Before there are no pardons,

        Before the concrete is hardened,

Before all the flute-holes are covered,

        Before all things are locked in cupboards,

Before the rules are discovered.

        Before the conclusion is planned,

Before God closes His Hand,

        Before we have nowhere to stand.

Written by Yehuda Amichai

Translated by Chana Bloch and Stephen Mitchell

 Source

1924-2000

Wednesday Words: Oscar

Door

Oscar retrieved a torn box in the back of his closet.  I remember this!  Didn’t think it still existed….

His daughter Beverly called from somewhere in the house.  “Dad!  You be careful in there!!”  Her hopes of moving Oscar into a geriatric care facility had always seemed improbable. But here she was and didn't want to be detained one moment longer. “See you tomorrow, Dad!!”  Slamming the door with a sigh of finality, Beverly drove away.

Oscar pulled out the rags and eased them over his aged body, smiling at the memories…from his days as a transient.  The final touch was tucking his souvenir Luger from war days into the back of the belt.

After living a philanthropic life, Oscar stepped out the door eager to lead his former misanthropic existence.  Slamming the door behind him, Oscar ambled away with a broad smile...back into the memories of the past.***

Source

***Arleen from Starting Over...expressed concern about the possibility of another lost elderly person.  Dementia and Alzheimer's are dangers for elderly.

Oscar will not go far, I assure you.  

Delores at Under the Porch Light has again tossed out six words as a challenge for any writer who would like to see what could be written using them.  Words this week are the underlined words in above story.  You can access what creative writers have done, but clicking on the Methodist Church in the right sidebar.