This Reminds Me

Archive for December, 2005

This week I received a box of family “stuff” courtesy of my cousin Joyce – who, by the way,  is a living saint.  The “stuff” all came from the home of our Aunt Zum. Zum, a.k.a., Arizona, was a younger sister to my mom (Wyoming), and an older sister to Joyce’s mom (Nevada.)  Joyce has been helping Zum’s husband clean out some their home – an unhappy but necessary chore.

I think Aunt Zum kept everything Mom, Judy, David, Sarah and I ever wrote to her or sent her.  Rachel and I began sloughing through it last night – what to pass onto Judy and Sarah, what to keep for ourselves, what just needs to be tossed.  I grimmaced at elementary art creations of David’s and mine.  I marveled at how much David had written with his one half-finger curled around a pen, undoubtedly swiped from Remco or Custom Coating.  I laughed at so many of my mother’s cards and letters.  I also ran my fingertips over Mom’s handwriting, picturing her at the kitchen table with her ever-present stack of note paper.

Our message in church this a.m. was just what I needed to hear -  “Have you been touched by Christmas?”  Basically, our pastor was asking us if we really cared about – if we were really impacted by -  Jesus’ life and message.  I was looking at all the “stuff” at our feet (bibles, notebooks, markers, kicked-off shoes, Sunday School materials, etc.) and I thought:  This is “stuff.”  Sort of like the box awaiting me at home, that I need to finish going through today.  “Stuff” is not life.  It’s what’s left here when you die.

This holiday season we have two girls in basketball games and practices.  Two in school choirs with practices and performances.  Two in Scouts.  All three in community service clubs with activities, collections, etc. Keith is traveling for business.  We have parties, gatherings, all the usual “stuff.”  But “stuff” is not “life.”  And this season – one day at a time – I am going to make it a point to be touched by Christmas.  Because Christmas – it’s all about life.