« A Good Joke | Main | The Depression Coat »

Thursday, 04 February 2010

The Gift

By Mary B Summerlin who keeps a photostream at Flickr

Some years ago, I was living in a house on the farm in South Carolina. I looked out the front door and saw my father – coming up the walk. He was alone – it wasn’t a holiday, birthday or anything. And he had something in his hand.

I don’t know about you but in my family, my father and I loved each other very much but we also had difficulty understanding each other – we had trouble appreciating each other. So I was delighted to see him coming to see me.

He came in and said, “Mary, I was over in the pasture this morning and I found this rock. It’s so pretty. I thought you might like it.”

He knew I loved rocks. Wow! What a special gift. I really appreciated it and said, “thank you,” and my father left.

I used the rock as a bookend, paper weight, door stop. I used it for years. It was always around. Then one day I looked for it and couldn’t find it. It had just disappeared! How could that be? I looked everywhere – I turned the house upside down – no rock. It was gone - for years.

Then one day, I was up in the attic (and that’s another story) going through some storage boxes and in a box I found my rock – Wow!! I took it out and looked at it. Amazing!! Absolutely amazing – I now have a new awareness.

My rock is not just a rock, it is a crystal, a big crystal. You know, the kind you buy in the store, the ones that bring you health, wealth, happiness and all good things in life. That’s what it was, a big beautiful crystal, I didn’t know it before. I didn’t realize it before.

This new awareness brought reflection. I remembered my father had given me many problems that I had spent much time worrying about, crying about, analyzing, rebelling against, moaning and groaning and carrying on about.

I also remembered he’d given me many gifts and strengths – they should be just as prized as the rock/crystal. The time has come for me to concentrate on these gifts and appreciate them.

You notice: Nothing has changed but my awareness!
Nothing has changed but my perception!

---

[INVITATION: All elders, 50 and older, are welcome to submit stories for this blog. They can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, etc. Instructions for submitting are here.]

Posted by Ronni Bennett at 02:30 AM | Permalink | Email this post