A Seed dropped in a crack 

on my small patio 5 years ago.

At the time of my husband’s passing 

I observed a seedling growing in this crack.

It is now a tree. It desires to reach up in to the heavens. 

To soar amongst the birds & the butterflies 

It dances in glory hanging over my small deck 

As a canopy amidst two colored umbrellas &  

Numerous hanging blown glass beauties!

You can not stop a  life from flourishing

If the heart ❤️ wants it to flourish

We have added 5 additional souls 

to my husbands family’s rich heritage

Since his RETURN TO GOD. 

My granddaughter who was born 

a month after his passing

thinks that she knew him

She says “remember when Papah . . ..”

We of course say. “Yes. We remember.

We remember him well.”

Every morning I see his photo hanging 

on my bedroom wall when I wake up. 

Every day I experience his presence in my life. 

In the happy noises of his ten grandchildren 

cooing & talking & playing exuberantly. 

In our children & their spouses  

As they laugh & play & nourish & love their families 

They rise up as this tree.

as a canopy over me in their love

& in their care for both my heart & for my soul.  

I am a widow. But I am not alone. 

I am like this tree as well 

Growing in a crack

In a changing season. 

Reaching up into the heavens

Where the butterflies & the birds soar. 

 You can not stop a heart from flourishing

If it wants to flourish! 

 

 

 

Sometimes it is a good idea 

to purchase your dishes 

& decorations at the dollar store

Especially if you are a person

that loves colored glass & breakable items

& if you have little children in your life.

It is my life’s experience that 

there will be occasional breakage. 

This thought somehow leads me 

To think about people & the high 

expectations that we often have of them

& how these unreasonable expectations

can cause us to view people 

As fine china secured high up on a shelf

rather than as touchable 

& loved pieces of breakable art. 

How many times do we expect 

people to be pristine, flawless, untenable perfections

When in reality we are all 

Extraordinarily – ordinary pieces

of homespun & yet lovely,

touchable & thus breakable art?  

Of course there are going to be mishaps 

Of course there is going to be breakage. 

What else can happen?

What other possibility is there?

When lovely but breakable pieces of beauty

Are often times held

in ordinary & sometimes clumsy hands?

I have personally never been a person 

That has a need for fine china in my life

Perhaps it is because I am not someone

Who wants to bring out something 

Only once a year to enjoy it

Maybe it is because 

I want to touch the experiences that I see, 

& know the beauty that lives before me. 

Albeit. Let’s be real. 

Seeing something. 

Touching something,

Holding something,

Loving something can reveal

& can even cause 

some of the cracks & the chips

that will inevitably be a result

Of this well worn love 

of any beloved piece of art in our lives.  

And so it is with people. 

We are all God’s masterpieces

And although HE holds us tenderly;

We are often held in the hands 

of the  awkward & inexperienced 

hands of humanity. 

We will all inevitably experience

Some form of breakage

As we are formed, & loved, 

sometimes held, & other times discarded. 

We will form – Cracks in our exteriors. 

Weakness in our inner parts. 

Breakage & brokenness. 

& YET, I believe 

that, – none of us really desires to be fine china. 

None of us wish to be put on a shelf.  

Never touched. Never truly understood. 

We need to be loved 

We desire to be experienced. 

We want to be known

in our extraordinary-ordinary-ness. 

We hoped to be treasured

In our messiness. In our simplicity 

In our everyday reality. 

In the end. 

If we experience life well enough,

We will discover that there is no such thing 

as fine china or perfect art. 

We are all flawed. We are all imperfect. 

Hopefully, We will all come to the conclusion 

that it is far better to love well that which we love

& love well those that we love. 

In all their imperfections & in all their flaws. 

The chips.  The cracks. The dents. The bumps  ;

than it is to pretend that our fine china has any real value in the needs of our deepest heart ❤️ 

Because herein lies, the truth of this matter:

“The well-worn  treasure of a person’s very soul

is of so much more worth

than un known prize upon the shelf.