She Didn't Waste A Single Thing

She didn’t waste a single thing saved the bacon grease from her heavy cast iron skillet and stored it in a jar beside the old stove to save for seasoning some other day In the evenings she built a fire in the central pot-bellied stove to keep us all warm from whatever it was that was cold inside the Blue Ridge The mornings were filled with savory meats she’d raised or picked up from friends along with cheap oats and real butter, enough to keep us all alive and cared for We didn’t have luxuries like chocolate or throwaway things like paper towels but we did have paper dolls and paper chains and we did somehow read the daily paper

(Photo Credit: From the author's personal collection. Photographer Unknown.) When her life was nearing its end I saw her on a visit back home one Christmas and our eyes met across the generations both of us knowing this was the last time… I’m not sure I was the best grandchild After all I left to lasso the world but I like to think she gave me the rope and I haven’t wasted a single thing #BlueRidgeMemories