On some Mondays, I expand on an entry in my Gratitude Journal. GRATEFUL today for this pan.
HOW MANY TIMES have I washed this pan,
just from making that coffee cake,
the one that goes to so many gatherings?
And if pans could talk,
what stories would they tell about us?
Perhaps my epitaph will read “She made that cake.”
Certainly worse things have been said about a person.
I stand over the sink and think about legacy,
how it’s carved out of the common tools.
If you wonder what yours will be,
look around you at the tools you use most,
what it is you hammer away at.
I hammer away at the computer working on my blog writings and developing my book for a lasting legacy for our children and grand children.
My mother is slowly dying of dementia and I cherish those physical things that she gave me either brand new or things that were hers. The use and reuse of something, my mother’s rolling pin, fills me with warmth. Don’t give away that pan. Someone who loves you might want it. But your legacy is embedded in everything you have done for your family. Beth
I “hammer away” at my computer many hours a day. I’m nearing the completion of my “Memories for My Grandchildren” book.
food for thought Marilyn,
much food for thought…
I love this expansion on your gratitude journal. How many times do I take these little things for granted. A good pan is hard to find.
I treasure my wooden bread board. It has been used for all 43 years of our married life and is worn down into a concave hollow on one side. It is scored, criss-crossed by the slices of knives over four decades. All the vegetables that have been chopped; all the sandwiches made & pieces of toast buttered for children long grown up! I think I may ask for it to be buried with me.
Yes, Belinda and her breadboard, henceforth never to be parted.
As I’m just beginning to transition into the empty nest stage and a bit unsure of my footing right now, this thought is both comforting and motivating. I can carry some of my tools with me into this new stage as part of my legacy, and I can also take on the challenge of learning to use some new ones. It’s not too late, I guess, to add to the legacy. Thanks for the beautifully-voiced encouragement.