My Inheritance

I'm so glad that Cora does such a thorough job of posting about our family events! It's so nice to see her creativity in each post! Thanks, Cora Beth, for your wonderful blog!

How many of you have ever seen the movie, THE INHERITANCE? It's one of our favorite movies ever and we like to watch it a couple of times a year. It's about this sweet young lady, named Edith, who was befriended by a wealthy family. The love that the owner of the estate, Henry, has for her has assured her a home as a servant. However, by a sad turn of events she learns that she is really Henry's niece. Being Edith's father was Henry's elder brother, Edith really owns Evenswood--ALL OF IT AND IT'S GORGEOUS.

It's a wonderful tale of how the servant becomes the master. The most wonderful part of all is that she doesn't care a hoot for the money as all she really ever wanted was to be loved by her adopted family. Being she was loved, Edith had everything that really matters. The family's love for her kept her sweet, so that when she became financially wealthy too, it didn't change her one bit! I just love the story as there is not doubt that love, and not money, is what leads to long-term happiness.

That being said, I will write a little bit about the hard part of yesterday. My dad has been after me ever since mom died to get her clothes out of the house. I kept putting it off, using the graduation as an excuse. Truthfully, that was part of it but I just wasn't sure of how I could handle dealing with mom's clothes. Well, yesterday we were going to Eureka for Earl's (FIL) birthday party so I prayed about picking up mom's clothes and we all felt that the time was right.

Dad had come over to the party for a little while too but left to rest around 2:00. We visited with the Bornemann family until 5:30; had supper; and then headed over to my dad's house. It's hard to get used to calling it my dad's house as it was always my folk's house. Sometimes I think that a house isn't much of a house without a mother in it, but that's the way it is now for me.

Well, I sat Dad down and asked him if he was ready for us to take out mom's clothes. He said, "Yes," but I think now that perhaps he would never have been ready as he cried most of the time that we were working there.

The first thing we did was went to their/his bedroom and he handed me mom's purse. As he handed this he said, "Do you want mom's purse?" I almost fell over from shock. I can't explain why but a woman's purse is private--a private place in her life. I can't ever recall going in mom's purse. SHE went in there and gave me things but it was forbidden for me to enter the inner sanctuary of mom's private purse. Now that it was handed to me, I felt like a criminal to think of entering there.

I said to dad, "Well, don't you need these papers and things?"

He shook his head and started crying. He sobbed out the words, "No--it's all irrelevant." Then I started crying. My mother's driver's license is irrelevant--her credit cards are irrelevant--her social security card is irrelevant--how can this be? How can her importance on this earth cease to exist? Later, on the way home, I picked up my courage and perused the contents of her purse being it had been given to me. Most of it WAS irrelevant--just as dad had said. How quickly does our relevance change when God decides that our time here is over. Then all that matters is what we did for eternity. I write this with tears flowing down my face with the hopes that someone on this earth may stop to pause a moment and ask themselves, "Does what I am doing right now have eternal relevance?"

I did find a few poems that seemed relevant to me and perhaps you may think they are worth pondering too, so I share these with you. What seemed shocking to all of us as I shared them with the family yesterday is that, although my mother carried these poems around in her purse, she did not carry them around in her heart. The very words that these poems preached were what she needed to implement in her life to REALLY be a blessing to others. That was such a strange thing about my mother. She just couldn't seem to apply truth to her life. She spent her whole life giving lip service to lofty and noble concepts, but these were sadly not put into practice. OH GOD, PLEASE KEEP ME FROM THIS BLINDNESS!!!

GROWING OLD

Lord, thou knowest I am growing older.

Keep me from becoming talkative and possessed with the idea

that I must express myself on every subject.

Release me from the craving to straighten out every one's affairs.

Keep me from the recital of endless detail. Give me wings to get to the point.

Seal my lips when I am inclined to tell of my aches and pains.

They are increasing with the years and my love to speak of them

grows sweeter as time goes by.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be wrong.

Make me thoughtful but not nosey; helpful but not bossy.

With my vast store of wisdom and experience,

it does seem a pity not to use it all.

But Thou knowest, Lord,

that I want a few friends at the end.

THE BIBLE AND THE TV

On the table side by side;

the Holy Bible and the T.V. Guide.

One is well worn but cherished with pride

(Not the Bible, but the T.V. Guide).

One is used daily to help folks decide

No! It isn't the Bible,

It's the T.V. Guide.

As pages are turned, what shall they see?

Oh, what does it matter, turn on the T.V.

So they open the book in which they confide

(No, not the Bible, it's the T.V. Guide).

The Word of God is seldom read,

Maybe a verse 'e're they fall into bed

Exhausted and sleepy and tired as can be,

Not from reading the Bible, from watching T.V.

So, then back to the table side by side,

is the Holy Bible and the T.V. Guide.

No time for prayer, no time for the Word,

The plan of salvation is seldom heard.

Forgiveness of sins so full and free

is found in the Bible, not on the T.V.

There seem to be several blog posts forming in my mind right now. One will show pictures of some of my new wardrobe items and the other will protest the advances of feminism. I have been learning more about my mother than I ever imagined today. It makes me wonder how her life could have been different if she would have been able to apply the teachings of HENRY AND THE GREAT SOCIETY to her life. This too she read, when I loaned it to her, but it too made not a dent in her thinking or the practices of her life.

Today Cora and I have been going through mom's things. I had hoped to be able to find the time to try on the dresses that I like but the afternoon is passing so quickly so I will do it tomorrow. I want to post pictures of me wearing my "Mother's" dresses. This is a great victory for me to be able to rejoice in the inheritance of my mother's clothing. Robert said, "If you can separate that these clothes are NOT your mom, then you can appreciate the small fortune that you have just received." My parents are pretty wealthy so it would be just out and out pride that would keep me from enjoying a new wardrobe complements of my parents. :)

Well, Cora and I just finished sorting everything. About half of the clothes will go to the consignment shop as they just are not either Cora or I. About an eighth of the 3 closet's worth will get cut up for rags. Cora is claiming 3 dresses and a skirt. My mom had told Cora at Christmas time that she could have one of the dresses. It was sewn by my grandmother and worn by her and then my mom for 2 of Eureka's birthday celebrations. Cora looks so wonderfully cute in it. Don't you wish we dressed like this all the time? Sometimes I really do. Part of me thinks that feminism would never have ruined as many homes as it has if ladies were still happy to dress like ladies.

All the rest of the "Stuff" will become my property. I have so many things in my closet which really are in sorry shape or are getting too big for me. How's that for a problem? Although I'm getting more of mom's clothes and purses than Cora is, she's getting the windfall on the shoes. She has mom's shoe size so she's getting hundreds of dollars worth of shoes. Good for you Cora!

Here she caught me "Amazed" by this lovely specimen of a house coat. I've seen my mother wear this hundreds of times and I never knew that it had legs sewn in. Either way--it's what I'd call, "INTERESTING"!!

This was an unexpected treasure. When I got to the apron pile, something about this one tugged at me. I felt a rush of excitement and picked it up to see if my hunch was right. OH FOR JOY!!! This was my grandmother Elizabeth's apron. She was so very special to me as one week out of the year I got to stay with Grandma Kusler and she kept me safe. This was my mother's mother and everything that was good and right and proper was wrapped up in this little lady. I often wondered why she didn't pass on her character traits to my mother but I suppose she lost her gusto when her husband died so young. My mom was in 7th grade then and was the youngest. How I miss my grandmother--REALLY MISS HER!!! I can recall my mother showing me this apron when my grandmother died--it was special to her. Yesterday it became my possession. So all afternoon I've been wondering, "Why did I ever stop using aprons?" I get so angry with myself when I get stains on my clothes but I don't use the aprons that are in my drawer. It made me wonder, "Does anybody out there use aprons any more?"

It's raining cats and dogs and Cora is making peanut butter cookies. Sometimes I get so down on myself that I miss out on the current joys all around me. That's when I start to hurt. Oh dear Lord, help me to find the balance between learning the lessons from yesterday; discovering the joys of today; and preparing for success in the future ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I truly thank each one of you who prays for me and who continues reading my sometimes- depressing thoughts. I love you all!!!

Maybe there is just a little time yet before supper preparations to go try on that pretty floral dress that I hope to be able to wear to the wedding this weekend.