I grew up with a practical parent, my mother, God love her, who ironed Christmas wrapping paper and reused it, and who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it- there were the cereal box liners and the flour sacks. She was the original 'recycle queen' before they had a name for it.
It was the time for fixing things...a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, the 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, reheating, 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 I sat in my kitchen that Sunday afternoon reading her old handmade cookbook in a binder. I was struck with the pain of feeling all alone, 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.....and dogs 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!
(This was adapted from an old piece of writing from an unknown source. bn) |
JOHN SANDERSON grew up in Delphi, IN, the son of a Rotarian. His first business was mowing lawns. JOHN graduated from Purdue in Biology, worked for St. Elizabeth Hospital for many years (resulting in extensive knowledge of the health care crisis we now find ourselves struggling to resolve), and started a health insurance company. Recent activities include helping Ivy Tech expand as its Development Director and writing a book on health care. He currently serves as Director of Development for the Mechanical Engineering Department at Purdue. Over the years he has been involved in many local organizations, contributing his talents in "Service Above Self".
