I've had a great visit with the Mother of an old friend and classmate from high school. Sadly, he died suddenly at age 47 about 17 years ago, but I still look in and visit with his Mom from time to time. She asked me recently about working on a few "projects" for her, and delivered one completed task back to her today. While there, I had the pleasure of meeting her cousin, who visits her several days a week to eat lunch with her and visit, play UNO, or any number of unusual sounding card games typical of this region (like TONK, SCRUB, SHANGHAI RUMMY, etc.). While she has been blessed with such a loving and caring family (her cousin who visits is 80, and she is 85) she has had to endure burying her husband, oldest son, and oldest daughter all before their 60th birthdays. Most people (me included) would probably find it difficult to find many reasons to go on, particularly after burying two children. And she would scoff at the notion of being inspirational, which would run counter to her Christian and simple country ways. She would simply say "I endure, because what's the alternative"? What she, and like many in her generation, may not fully understand is how important that lesson is to someone younger, who really should know what that means, and how to live happily in the face of so much loss and pain, without letting that darkness define you or your direction in life.
My aunt told me years ago, I had "an old soul" because I would always sit and talk to "the old folks" when the other kids were playing. Probably a true statement that I was born in the wrong time period. But, I loved (and still do to this day) listening to the elders talk about how things were for them as children or young parents; the difficulties and sacrifices they made for their families. I find it fascinating even as I'm breaking apart an old table or desk, seeing how some skilled craftsmen or worker assembled the pieces, seeing their tool marks, handsaw and planing, even measurements and notes written to themselves. And I can almost feel all the hands over the decades, sometimes centuries, that have touched or used this particular piece of furniture, and I try to envision within my mind what their life was like (or even the day they were working on this piece).
Probably one of my favorite authors of all time is James A. Michener, because of his attention to detail and vivid in-depth descriptive which he meticulously investigated for each story. Some might call this drivel, verbose, even boring, but for me, the more detailed the better.
Which leads me to my point, while visiting today. Lots of these stories, about family and friends and relationships and skills and knowledge are lost over time, if they are not recorded or written down. As we were laughing about things that had happened in our lives, we realized the connections that are so important from one generation to the next, are forever lost unless they somehow get passed down. It doesn't matter if the stories become embellished or more grandiose over time, because the importance is in the remembering, not so much the details. In rememberance, you honor those who came before, whose hands were on the tools that shaped your very existence, whether you realize it or not.
So, at the expense of boring your spouses, children or grandchildren, speak about "the old days" and tell the stories (adding your own embellishments) of what life or work or devotion was like. You never know when one of those young "old souls" are listening and will remember what you said!
Peace in your hearts, and purpose in your stride!
JD
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