It was done.

The house was empty

And all the things you loved were packed away

And given new homes.

Our homes.

 

As we packed, we reminisced

And remembered

And thought.

Tears came.

Laughter came.

 

Then it was time to go

One last look and

Nothing was left but memories of you

To remind us.

But how can we forget?

 

We closed the door,

Suddenly, I saw your old straw hat

Caught in the wind.

Lonely and tattered it was tossed--

From where it came, I do not know.

 

Landing at my feet

I picked it up

And held it to my chest.

And wept.

 

Your old straw hat.

And one last "Good-bye"

 

I gently tied the ribbons and plopped

it on my head.

Now it protects me in the garden

From the hot summer sun

The way you did

That day at the beach

When I was three.

–Aunt Sadie

Dedicated to the memory of

my mother, Peggy Hansen Douglass

D. Apr. 29, 1998