From: "Evelyn" <ewoudenberg@roadrunner.nf.net> To: NFLD-ROOTS-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2003 3:19 PM Subject: YOUR KEEPERS!!! > Hi All; > I received the following story from our list friend, Ivy Benoit and it > just seem so fitting to describe our parent, namely our Mothers, > grandmothers and g grandmothers. These statements are so very true of our > Ancestors, especially living in Newfoundland and Labrador. They accepted > life as it was and made the best of everything and hoped that we would learn > and benefit from their teachings. "Waste not, Want not" > > ENJOY! > > I grew up in the forties and fifties 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. 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, 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! > > > Cheers > Evelyn many thanks Ivy!!! >