All Of The Selves We Have Ever Been
Menu

all of the selves we Have ever been

Juxtaposition

11/17/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
 
I knew them both.

A few short miles separated their houses.
A greater distance separated their lives.

He had everything, it seemed.  She had nothing.

Their ages differed by more than fifty years.  He had passed the age of ninety. She was barely thirty-five.

A wide gulf separated their achievements.  He was a decorated soldier, a retired corporate executive, and a practicing lay minister.  She worked in a hotel, making beds and scrubbing toilets.

He created a family that spanned many generations, and he had lived to see the children of his great-grandchildren.  She would not live to see her only child go off to kindergarten.

His stately home was built of brick and sat beaming on a cul-de-sac in an old, established neighborhood.  A yard sign advertised his house on the Holiday Tour of Homes. In the garage, a boat kept company with a luxury automobile.  His home was paid for.  He had money in the bank and two hefty pensions.  He lived each day surrounded by tasteful furnishings and expensive collectibles.

She lived in a modest tract home in a low-rent neighborhood where broken-down vehicles lined the streets.  A security camera on the house next door blinked the steady reminder of a break-in.  Her small Ford was parked in the driveway, but it really belonged to the bank, not to her.  She had no savings.  Bill collectors called.  She hoped to receive a disability check.  Holes from a man’s fist, holes from her head accented the walls.

He had the pleasure of a marriage that lasted more than fifty years.  He said his wife was his closest friend.  She awaited the arrival of a divorce decree.  She said she still loved the man who put the holes in the walls.

Despite his training and ministry to others, he believed that God was a son-of-a-bitch with a bad sense of humor.  She had no religious instruction but hoped that God was kind and watching over her.

He had many well-educated and capable adult children who tried to care for him, but he chased them away with his irascible disposition. With grace and patience, she allowed a mentally ill mother and a drug-addicted sister to care for her, to rise above their means and their own problems, to be better and braver than they might otherwise be.

He greeted every day with contempt and hostility.  He behaved so badly that a sigh of relief was offered to heaven when he passed suddenly and alone.  She was surprised and grateful to open her eyes each day.  She was showered with attention, tender care, and kisses.  Heaven’s gate opened wide to a woman loved.

Appearances can be deceiving.  He that dies with the most toys is not always the winner.  In the end, when both had died just days apart, she was the one who had everything.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Lilli-ann Buffin
    ​

      Get Notified of New Posts 
      Enter your email address and click on "Subscribe"

    Subscribe

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020

    Categories

    All
    Acne
    Adulting
    Advertising
    Aging
    Arms
    Barbie
    Baths
    Beauty
    Beloved Community
    BINGO
    Birds
    Books
    Branding
    Bravery
    Cars
    Catching Up
    Children
    Church
    Cliches
    Clothing
    Comfy Couches
    Coping With Stress
    Coronavirus
    Death & Dying
    Diets
    Dignity
    Discernment
    Drive Ins
    Drive-ins
    Driving
    Essential Workers
    Exercise
    Faith
    Falling
    Family
    Father's Day
    Food
    Friendship
    Fruit
    Games
    Good Intentions
    Goodness
    Good Old Days
    Grace
    Graduation
    Grandparents
    Gratitude
    Hair
    Handwriting
    Health
    Heroes
    History
    Holidays
    Hope
    Houses
    Humor
    Illness
    Imagination
    Influencers
    Ironing
    John Lewis
    Knowledge
    Laughter
    Laundry
    Leadership
    Libraries
    Listening
    Lists
    MacGyver
    Madge
    Magazines
    Mail
    Masks
    Memorial Day
    Memories
    Mental Illness
    Miracles
    Moral Lessons
    Mothers
    Music
    Names
    Nancy Drew
    Nature
    Neighbors
    Oreos
    Other-Mothers
    Our Stuff
    Outdoors
    Parenting
    Pets
    Phones
    Poignancy
    Politics
    Prayer
    Purses
    Reading
    Recipes
    Reinvention
    Revelations
    Rewards
    Rotisserie Chicken
    Saturdays
    Saving The World
    Schools
    Shelf Life
    Showers
    Siblings
    Small Things
    Sorrow
    Speed
    Sports
    Stores
    Substance Abuse
    Success
    Sunshine
    Technology
    Thanksgiving
    Toilet Paper
    Tools
    Truth
    Uncles
    Veterans
    Voting
    Walking
    War
    Water
    Weather
    Wilderness
    Wishing
    Women
    Wonder
    Words
    Work

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
    • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Other Works
  • What Readers Say
  • Home
    • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Other Works
  • What Readers Say