Rosemead Kiwanis Club
"Serving the Community Since 1945"
FAX OF
LIFE
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Rosemead Kiwanis Club "Serving the Community Since 1945" |
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FAX OF LIFE
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The Fax of Life
A weekly inspiration, courtesy of the Kiwanis Club of Scott's Valley
(distributed free by the Kiwanis Club of Rosemead, CA - rosemeadkiwanis.org )
May 2, 2010 Volume 15, Number 28
Keepers
Their marriage was good, their dreams focused.. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, t-shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress; lawn mower in his hand, and dish-towel in hers.. 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, eating,
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 on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of
the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of 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 ...Its 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 ... Dogs and cats with bad hips ... And aging parents .... And
grandparents, aunts and uncles and friends. We keep them because they are
worth it, because we are worth it.
Some things we keep. Like a best friend who 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 in heart and
mind and spirit.
Good friends are like stars ... you don't always see them, but you know they
are always there.
Contributed by Kathie Meiklejohn
Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time. All of its Clubs are independently-run community service groups.
The Kiwanis Club of Scott's Valley normally meets at the Heavenly Café in Scott's Valley, CA, on Wednesdays at 7 am - see the Scott's Valley Kiwanis website @ http://svkiwanis.org for details; The Kiwanis Club of Rosemead normally meets on Thursdays at 12:10 in Rosemead, CA - see the Rosemead Kiwanis website @ http://rosemeadkiwanis.org for confirmation and directions. Visitors are welcome to join meetings of either club anytime.
There is no charge to anyone for receiving the "Fax," which today is circulated by e-mail rather than literally by FAX. If you have been encouraged in any way by the message, pass it on by saying something encouraging to someone else during the week. To subscribe to the free weekly RKC Reporter, of which the "Fax" is an attachment, simply email kcrosemead@aol.com,
Neither the Scott's Valley or Rosemead Kiwanis Clubs make any representations as to the accuracy of quotes or actions attributed to named individuals; material selected for the Fax of Life comes from a variety of sources and is chosen based solely on its presumed inspirational value to readers.