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Category: Relationships / Topics: Family Holidays Mother's Day Parenting, Parents Relationships Tribute, Testimony

Shadowbox of the Heart

by Linda Schwartz / Reflections

Posted: May 7, 2021

A tribute to a mother's life…



dailydoseofdiy.com

Editor's Note: The following appeared in the May 2021 email newsletter of SeniorLifestyle contributoe Barbara Greenleaf. (See her own tribute to mothers, "Today's Mothers Are Worker Bees."

I put the finishing touches on the shadow box
close the lid of the assembled memorabilia
of my mother’s life

her thick gold-rimmed bifocals
  a miniature suitcase symbolic of her love of travel
    Mah Jongg tiles embellished with intricate designs
      her scuffedwell-used Nordstrom charge card
        a sterling silver sewing thimble
          playing cards and plastic poker chips
            her wedding invitation tinged yellow with age
            black and white photos of her as a young bride

nestled on a pristine-white satin backdrop
these mementos are a mere glimpse
of wife      mother      sister
grandmother      great-grandmother      friend

missing behind the wooden frame
the essence of who she was
too elusive and ephemeral
to be pinned onto satin
instead held steadfast
in the shadow box
of my heart



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Posted: May 7, 2021   Accessed 324 times

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