Aging (& Retirement)
Simple Mind
My grandmother used to say life was so much easier when you were simple minded. It’s taken me almost my whole life to understand what she meant.
Silver Needle
Each night, all the years we were growing up, she sat in the big yellow rocking chair & pieced together our lives with countless stitches of her silver needle.
Simple Life
I was going to live simply & give away all my money to the poor, she said, until I figured out then I’d be poor, so the simple thing was just to keep it. I like it when things make sense like that, she added.
Short Nose
When I was young, my grandma always used to say it was good I didn’t get my dad’s nose & I thought so, too, but I always wondered if someone somewhere was walking around without a nose because of me.
Silly in Public
I figured out that if I keep it up, someday I’ll probably get wise enough to be silly in public but I probably won’t wait that long.
Secret Notes
He wrote secret notes to people he hadn’t met yet. Some of them aren’t even born, he said, but we live in a strange neighborhood & they will need help figuring things out & I won’t always be around to explain it to them.
Secret Warning
He ran quickly with a sound like raindrops & left his handwriting in all the secret places. I found this one underneath the big yellow rock in the garden. It said this: watch out for the little black dog. It can smell when you’ve had hot dogs.
Second Choice
you look like someone from the 70’s, I said & she smiled & said that this time around she’d done it by choice & that made it easier
Scent
When she wore the hat, even many years later, she could always smell her mother’s perfume & it was hard to remember she was supposed to be alone.
Scraps of Magic
These are little scraps of magic & when you paste them together you get a memory of something fine & strong, she said. Sometimes it takes till you’re 40 to see it though.
Running Behind
When I met the Grandfather of Time, he said it was no use struggling. Even after all these years he still had too much to do.
Relative Worries
I’m not worried about ghosts in general, she said. Just the ones that are related to me.
Real Name
I can remember walking down the street, saying my name over & over, until all of a sudden, it didn’t sound like my name anymore. It didn’t even sound like a word at all & then I stopped & the silence rushed in & whispered words that sounded more like my real name & I smiled & thought to myself how surprised my parents would be when they found out what a mistake they had made.
Real Reason
There are things you do because they feel right & they may make no sense & they may make no money & it may be the real reason we are here: to love each other & to eat each other’s cooking & say it was good.
Raspberry Patch
My great-grandmother sent us out to pick raspberries in her garden while she watched the first moon walk on TV. You’ll have plenty of time to see things like that, she said, but those raspberries were carried overland by your great-great-grandfather. She was very wise. I see pictures of the moon walk all the time, but all I have left from him is the memory of those sun-warmed raspberries.
Random Door
doorway that only lets some stuff through but you never know what it’s going to choose, so it’s hard to plan for the future
Queen of the Universe
I used to hate birthdays, she told me, until I figured out I was the Queen of the Universe & now I do them for the little people.
Open to the Sky
The top of his head was open up to the sky & when he walked down the street he’d end up with strange things in there like the number of dogs in China, or the time it takes to cook a pig. It’s not really useful, he said, but I’d miss this stuff if it ever closed up.
One A Day
They don’t have very long memories, so every morning seems like a miracle.
One of Us
Someday, the light will shine like a sun through my skin & they will say, What have you done with your life? & though there are many moments I think I will remember, in the end, I will be proud to say, I was one of us.