I BELIEVE

MY YOUNG NEIGHBOR  RECENTLY LOST

A DEAR FRIEND AND BECAUSE IT WAS A VERY CLOSE

FRIENDSHIP AND HER FIRST CLOSE DEATH SHE HAS

BEEN STRUGGLING. 

DEATH IS NEVER EASY BUT WHEN IT IS YOUR FIRST

CLOSE ENCOUNTER IT CAN ROCK YOUR WORLD.

NONE OF US REALLY KNOW WHY OR HOW LIFE 

WORKS, WE CAN IMAGINE IT BUT IT IS OUT 

OF OUR REALM OF COMPREHENSION TO TRULY UNDERSTAND.

YET WE ALSO HAVE OUR OWN BELIEFS TO HELP US

THROUGH THE GRIEF PROCESS.

SO I SHARED WITH HER SOME OF THE THINGS I BELIEVE TO BE TRUE:

• Lilly Collins Riera

  Sometimes we wonder  "why do things like this happen?" I am no expert, by any means but I have some beliefs... these may or may not help you. I believe there is another life after this one and sometimes the pain of this life becomes too much for one. I believe sometimes the death of another is not even about the person who passes but for another to learn something. I believe that as painful as grief is, it allows us to love those close to us more deeply and to hold those same people closer to us. I also believe that this life is temporary and our human nature cannot even fathom what is next to come so it remains a mystery but those who have entered the next phase of life, whatever it may be, are so happy there that they choose to stay if their job here on Earth is done.

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I ALSO BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF PRAYER,

I HAVE SEEN PRAYER IN ACTION AND I REFUSE TO 

BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A COINCIDENCE.

HOWEVER I ALSO THINK SO MANY PEOPLE SAY,

"I WILL PRAY FOR YOU" OR "I AM PRAYING FOR YOU"

THAT I SOMETIMES WONDER IF THEY ACTUALLY DO

OR HAS IT BECOME A SLANG IN OUR WORLD, 

SOMETHING WE SAY TO COMFORT OTHERS.

THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT I DON'T BELIEVE THIS IS SAID

WITH GOOD INTENTIONS NOR THAT SOME WHO SAY THIS

REALLY DO HAVE PRAYER LISTS AND PRAY FOR THOSE.

I WANT MY FELLOW PEOPLE TO KNOW THIS,

IF I SAY I AM PRAYING FOR YOU, OR HAVE PRAYED FOR YOU

I MEAN IT. 

ONCE I SAY OR WRITE THESE WORDS DOWN I STOP WHATEVER 

I AM DOING AT THAT MOMENT AND SAY A PRAYER RIGHT THEN.

IN THIS WAY I FEEL I AM NOT BEING UNTRUTHFUL OR JUST

SAYING THE WORDS TO EASE SOMEONE ELSE'S PAIN.

I TRULY DO BELIEVE PRAYERS WORK AND THAT JUST

BECAUSE WE DON'T GET THE RESULTS WE PRAY FOR,

DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE NOT HEARD.

IN MY WORLD IT ONLY MEANS THAT SOMETIMES THE ANSWER IS "NO"

OR "NOT YET".

AS I HAVE SAID BEFORE, SOME THINGS JUST CANNOT BE

UNDERSTOOD IN THE WORLD WE LIVE IN.

I CAN ONLY SAY:

I BELIEVE

 

"I'M A LITTLE TEA POT"

 OKAY,  I know it is supposed to say,

"I'm a little Tea Pot..." but it's not, its a coffee pot!

I know you all are swooning out there.

When R and I used to scour the antique and thrift stores,

I was always looking for a percolator that was not just for show

and in my price range, which is.... well, cheap.

A deal gets my heart rate up.

As many of my friends know I love sitting around a table

with a cup of coffee, dessert, friends and talk.

I am not a Keurig girl. It never makes me enough coffee

and Pods just don't seem like the way a cup of coffee should start.

I should add here though, when I visit my sister and brother in law,

I look forward to their Keuring because it means an early sit down

with my brud before anyone else wakes up. Love that!

Okay, back to the story. 

This week while scouring yet another

antique store I come across the perfect metal, red (My favorite color) pot,

and it even has the old cotton cord.... Oh yes, I think and as I read

the price tag, 20 dollars..... 20 DOLLARS!

I know this little baby is coming home with me!

There is a chance it may not work but for that price, it can sit in my

kitchen collecting dust. 

The morning after, I decide it is time to give this little pot a try.

I plug it in and wait, impatiently.

I hear noise, that is  a good sign.

Then I see it, water then coffee bubbling up into the glass topper.

My heart is a flipping. I can't stop watching it as I think of how 

many cups of coffee may have been served from this sweet thing.

I think of how many coffee dates I will be serving from this spout.

When it is ready I pour myself a cup, not in the thermal metal cup 

I normally use, This calls for a special cup, one that has coffee stains and

a plate that is made for that said cup. I add my condiments

and I sit to taste. 

.......... and just like that, if I close my eyes and daydream......

I am sitting at the red and white home built kitchen table,

the one that always has a jigsaw puzzle under the plastic table cloth.

My daddy is sitting there quietly working on his homemade castnets

as I wait for his homemade biscuits shaped like cigars to come

out the oven. I am transported to my childhood where everything

was right in the world and life was safe and simple because 

someone else was responsible for me.

I know for this experience, I would have paid triple what the

price tag read on this little red percolator.

THE LOG CABIN

ONCE UPON A TIME...

BECAUSE IS THAT NOT HOW ALL GOOD STORIES BEGIN?

WHEN I WAS 5, MY MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER DIED.

ALTHOUGH I HAVE FEW MEMORIES OF HER NOW, I BELIEVE WE WERE 

FAIRLY CLOSE THEN.

ONE THING SHE OWNED THAT I ALWAYS LOVED WAS

A SMALL BOX THAT LOOKED LIKE A LOG CABIN.

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN INFATUATED WITH SMALL THINGS

SO I CAN REMEMBER PLAYING WITH THIS CABIN OFTEN,

OPENING THE TOP TO REVEAL THE INNER PAPER THAT

WAS PRINTED LIKE THE INSIDE OF A CABIN.

WHEN SHE DIED, MY AUNT LEE LEE WHO ALSO LIVED

IN THE OLD FAMILY HOTEL GAVE ME THIS LOG CABIN.

I HAVE TREASURED IT ALL MY LIFE, PLACING IN IT IMPORTANT THINGS:

MY COMMUNION VIEL AND PURSE

A FOOTBALL PHOTO OF MY COUSIN, BUDDY

LOVE LETTERS TO MY PARENTS

MY CHILDREN'S TEETH (yes I am that mama)

SILVER DOLLARS MY GODMOTHER GAVE ME AT EVERY HOLIDAY

JUST THINGS THAT REMAIN SPECIAL TO ME AND SPARK A MEMORY.

I HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN I WOULD LEAVE IT TO A GRANDGIRL

WHEN I DIE BUT WONDERED, WHICH ONE?

THEN ONE DAY I AM SCROLLING THROUGH FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE

AND I FIND ANOTHER EXACTLY LIKE IT AT 

AN ANTQUE STORE IN THIBODAUX!

YES, I KNOW NOW THE HUNT WOULD BE ON TO BUY TWO MORE

AND LEAVE EACH GRANDGIRL ONE.

I GOT IN TOUCH WITH THE STORE AND THE RARE FIND

IS ONLY 60 DOLLARS! A STEAL AS I HAVE SEARCHED THEM ON

EBAY AND THE CHEAPEST I HAD FOUND WAS 300 DOLLARS. 

ALTHOUGH THE STORE SAID THEY WOULD HOLD IT FOR ME,

THEY COULD NOT SHIP IT AND I COULD NOT COORDINATE

A DATE THAT I COULD PICK IT UP DURING THEIR HOURS OF OPERATION.

I TOLD THEM NOT TO HOLD IT, THAT I WOULD GET BACK TO

THEM AFTER I SPOKE TO MY NIECE, REBECCA AND ASK

HER TO PICK IT UP FOR ME.

HOWEVER, I NEVER MADE THE CALL TO MY NIECE.

I GOT BUSY WITH MY DAY, PUT IT ON THE BACK BURNER 

AND KIND OF JUST FORGOT ABOUT IT.

A MONTH WENT BY AND ONE DAY, I WAS PAINTING

IN MY STUDIO WHEN I RECEIVED A TEXT FROM REBECCA.

WE REMAIN CLOSE BUT WE DON'T GET TO TALK, TEXT OR VISIT

LIKE WE WOULD LIKE SO I IMMEDIATELY WAS EXCITED TO

SEE HER NAME ON MY PHONE.

ASTONISHMENT WITH THE PHOTO SHE SENT ME WITH THE CAPTION:

"LOOK WHAT I JUST FOUND AT THE ANTIQUE STORE"

I KNEW IMMEDIATELY WHERE SHE WAS AS IN THE PHOTO

WAS THE LOG CABIN!

THE VERY SAME ONE I HAD TRIED TO PURCHASE OVER

A MONTH BEFORE. WHAT MADE THIS MORE ASTONISHING

IS THAT WE HAD NEVER DISCUSSED THE LOG CABIN,

NOT THAT MONTH, NOT AS ADULTS

AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW SHE REMEMBERED MY OWN CABIN.

I WAS IN A STATE OF SHOCK, HOW THESE THINGS COME TO BE.

I CALL HER RIGHT AWAY, I TRY AND EXPLAIN TO HER THE

STORY I TELL HERE NOW AND ASK HER WHAT MADE HER

SEND ME THAT PHOTO?

SHE RELATES THAT AS A LITTLE GIRL (she is 10 yrs. younger than me)

SHE HAS MEMORIES OF SITTING WITH ME ON MY BED

GOING THROUGH THE TREASURES I STORED THERE.

I HAVE NO RECOLLECTION OF HER MEMORY.

OF COURSE I TELL HER TO BUY IT AND I SEND HER THE

MONEY KNOWING THAT I WAS MEANT TO HAVE THIS LOG CABIN BOX.

THIS WEEK I MET UP WITH HER FOR LUNCH AND SHE DELIVERED TO ME

MY SPECIAL, GOD GIVEN CABIN.

OUR LUNCH WAS GREAT AS WE CAUGHT UP ON OUR LIVES

AND AS I USUALLY DO, I SAW THE BIGGER PICTURE THAT

THIS WAS NOT ONLY ABOUT A LOG CABIN BUT THE IMPORTANCE

THIS WOMAN PLAYS IN MY LIFE. AS WE

DISCUSSED ALL THE CHANGES IN OUR LIVES I REALIZED

THAT TIME WITH HER, HER FAMILY AND OTHERS I LOVE

NEED TO HAPPEN MORE THAN IT IS.

AS I HUNT FOR LOG CABIN NUMBER THREE, I KNOW I WILL

FIND IT BECAUSE IN MY LIFE, THERE ARE NO COINCIDENCES

AND THE BIG MAN REMINDS ME IN THESE WAYS THAT

LIFE WITH THOSE WE LOVE IS MOST IMPORTANT.