Family & Relatives
Work Ethic
When we visited my grandma in the summer, we’d sit on the porch & watch the moon every night to be sure it made it safely home. My grandma said we should say prayers that it find fulfilling work during the day. It’s not like there’s a lot of jobs out there for a moon, she said. She had been through the Depression & thought about a lot of things like that.
Wish List
I wish you could have been there for the sun & the rain & the long, hard hills. For the sound of a thousand conversations scattered along the road. For the people laughing & crying & remembering at the end. But, mainly, I wish you could have been there.
Without Hesitation
After all those years, she was nothing like I remembered, but my heart leaped across the gap anyway without a moment’s hesitation.
Wisdom
Older doesn’t always mean wiser, my grandfather once said. Sometimes it just means older.
Waiting to Stay
Sometimes I can’t wait to leave, but not when my boys are wishing I could stay
Value of a Nickel
I buried a nickel under the porch when I was 8, she said, but one day my grandma died & they sold the house & I never got to go back for it. A nickel used to mean something, I said. She nodded. It still does, she said & then she started to cry.
Uncle August
When my great-uncle August was in his twenties, he left Iowa & went to study cake decorating at the National Baking Institute in Chicago. He learned everything from spun sugar decorations to ice sculpture. He went to school for 2 years & when he finished, he went back to Iowa & worked in the family bakery. Except for the odd wedding cake, he never used the fancy stuff he learned. He was in charge of yeast breads & cinnamon rolls. Just after the end of WW II, the Valley Dairy Farmer’s Association had the first of the now famous Milk & Honey Festivals. August made a model of the Statue of Liberty out of 250 pounds of white cheddar cheese, surrounded by American Beauty roses of spun sugar, especially for the occasion. He showed me the page from Life magazine he kept folded up in his wallet, one summer when we visited. On it was a picture of a much younger man, smiling next to a 4 foot tall Liberty. He told me he had 6 proposals of marriage from that photo, one from the East Coast even & he smiled & I saw him grow 30 years younger & I knew in our hearts we never get old.
Twin Sister
When I was young I told everyone I had a twin sister. One day, after we had been to see the relatives, my mother told me I was too old to play that game any more. So I stopped talking about her & after awhile, she finally went away. But I’m grown up now & I still miss her & I wish she would come back.
Two Wise Men
My great-aunt Clara told us once about the time she was one of the wise men in the church play & when it came to her part she said we’re here bearing frankincense, gold & myrrh, heavy on the frankincense because of that camel smell & after that her father always called it the story of the Two Wise Men & that other guy & we laughed so hard we had to pee.
True Map
There is no one who comes here that does not know this is a true map of the world, with you there in the center, making home for us all.
True Things
They came to sit & dangle their feet off the edge of the world & after awhile they forgot everything but the good & true things they would do someday.
Treasures
The most important thing you leave behind is the stuff that turns into treasures when children find it.
Too Many Words
Does Santa get to do as much PlayStation as he wants? he said & I said nobody gets to do as much of anything as they want, or the economy would grind to a halt & he looked at me & said, That was a simple yes or no question, Dad.
Timeout
If you kill your brother, she said, you’re going to get a huge timeout.
The World Itself
When she held out her arms, the world itself wrapped around me & held me tight.
Ten Commandments
I asked her why she never told us about the Ten Commandments & she said she wasn’t ever that good with numbers so she loved everything as best she could & I remember thinking who needs all those rules anyway with a mother like her around.
Successful Holiday
Rules for a successful holiday: 1. Get together with the family 2. Relive old times 3. Get out before it blows
Stupid Things
If you can’t laugh at yourself, my grandpa told me, you’re not doing enough stupid things. I told him I didn’t usually run out of stupid things, but it’s hard to laugh that long at anything.
Stress Management
I can imagine it working out perfectly, I said. I can’t, she said & I said no wonder you’re so stressed.
Standards
Won’t drink a cheap red no matter how much they threaten him.