Buried treasure

Finally, after 8 or 9 years, an estate will be settled for a family. The home has been empty for several years and the condition has deteriorated to the point, that something must be done. Sad to see an old homestead dead with no signs of life left in it. The fire that once burned was blown out when death took the final resident to their eternal home. For whatever reason, family could not part with the material possessions, maybe thinking they could keep it all the same if the property remained. Years passed, family became older, family became sick, boxes still packed up from years ago, weeds grown up from no one to pull them, dust covering all that remained. To finally close this chapter in life, family had to face what death is all about. Treasures once thought to be things seen on the wall, over time became useless, with no one to view. Collections so cherished by the one who desired them, lost in boxes, offering no resemblance of what once had been. Thinking that clinging unto and keeping all the same, would offer a comfort and ease the pain. With no life to whisk down the halls, no tending of the flowers that grew, no view from the windows as no one to see, the walls become cold and oddly not the same. For the life that was living within all that there was, was the warmth and the reason the place was still home. The real treasures carried away from this residence aren't packed in a tin box to rust and be hidden. The treasures I found were the love for my children that knew no bounds, the joy on her face as she came for a visit, the laugh in her chuckle while reading to my children, the click in her heels when others could not walk, the twinkle in her eye when sharing a story, finding joy in something that others could not see, pressed flowers picked on a walk, loyalty to family when others were gone. These treasures have not been weathered and worn from neglect. I don't need to go find them and unwrap each item in a box. I can display them each day as I remember her spirit. I can know that through the gift of memory and love I will store all these treasures in my heart with no lid, so others can share them and use them, long after all is gone.