Since the arrival of the newest member of our family, a Chihuahua mix named Cooper, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the park a few blocks south of our home. Cooper spends a lot of time sniffing the trees.
That’s given me time to notice the many markers placed near the trees. Those tree markers got me thinking about other kinds of life markers that remind us of loved ones whose baptismal journeys have been made complete. I have a glass juicer that my mother used. Every time I use that juicer, I think of my mother. I also have a glass cake stand that belonged to my mother’s maternal grandmother. Now when I use it, I speak of my great-grandmother, someone I never met. Markers don’t have to be objects, of course. When I tell one of my father’s many stories, I’m remembering him.
Cake stands, juicers, stories and songs. These are some of the ways we remember our loved ones. With these things we say the lives of our loved ones mattered, that they are not forgotten, that they made a difference in our becoming who we are.
This message is an excerpt from “Grace Notes: Cake stands, juicers, stories and songs” by Linda Post Bushkofsky in the May 2019 issue of Gather magazine.
Do you enjoy these free Daily Grace messages? If so, donate now to further the ministry. Use the “where needed most” line.