Saturday, November 15, 2014

Beautiful old broads write letters


Dear Ones,
I said I would post every Friday EXCEPT when life interfered.  Well, life has poked and prodded and definitely interfered these last couple of weeks.  One doesn’t know how beautiful normal is until things aren’t normal.
Reading is always my default button when life is chaotic and I’ve been reading an older book, a Pulitzer Prize winner called “Gilead
An epistolary novel, it follows a Reverend as he writes at length about his life and his family relationships.  These letters are his legacy that he plans to leave for his son. 
Made me think about what I would write if I decided to leave a letter for loved ones.  Of course there are many books out there that do exactly that but I never really thought about doing it myself.  Have you?  What would you say?  What exactly would you want to leave behind for the next generation?
Would you give advice?  Hah!  No one wants my advice.  How about recollections, memories, stories from the past?  Well, that’s more a memoir.  No, I’m talking about what you would want them to know about life that you discovered along the path.  I am sure I would say look up…look up…into the skies.  I wish I had started doing that when I was younger.  And pay attention.  So many magical things happen along the way and we’re too busy looking at our email or fussing about what to wear.  Take butterflies or sunsets or pansies blooming on a cold day.  Life happens while we are out to lunch sometimes. Don’t know precisely what else I’d say. 
For beautiful old broads like us, this is probably a challenging but rewarding project to consider.  Whatcha think?  When I have some time--not in the next few weeks but later, I’m going to attempt it.  Will it be sappy or humorous or deep?  One thing I do know for sure…keep it brief.  The attention span of the younger generation is about as short as those mini skirts they wear.
I asked my husband what he would write and after a short pause he said he knew exactly what he’d say.  He pulled out a worn tiny piece of paper from his wallet on which was written a quote from Abraham Lincoln. 
            “Do not let discouragement prey upon you and in the end you will succeed”
                                                                                    A. Lincoln

No comments:

Post a Comment