Treasures, fishing lures, the rings of love.

Yesterday, I met my brothers and sister to start the process of settling our parent's estate. My parents small, 3 bedroom and 2 bath home, was stuffed to the baseboards with their worldly possessions. Now, since my mother has been gone for 10 years, well let's just say the house was absolutely filthy. My father never learned how to clean, pick-up after himself or maintain any sort of home organization. My oldest brother and his wife had already started the cleaning process when I arrived yesterday. I drove in and started doing what was asked of me. Strangely enough, I was not sad this time. When my mother passed away, I was unable to help with this cleaning out process. Maybe I was too stressed with younger children, maybe I had different grief, maybe I had guilt, whatever the reason, I was so thankful to feel okay. My mother collected dishes and dolls. My father collected dirt and guns. Their furniture was a result of gifts and layaway purchases. Nothing matched or had a theme. When my mother died, her wedding rings were lost. My father just knew someone had thrown them away during my mother's last visit to Vanderbilt. My oldest brother was so excited to tell me the rings had been found. Carefully tucked away in my parents dresser drawer. I can see my mother taking her last breaths and placing them there, safely, knowing one day we would find them. My daughter has been asking for an heirloom. She wanted an old ring to passed down to her, something that was really special. My siblings all agreed she should get the rings. A pink star sapphire, a diamond and a red ruby. When I arrived home, I dould not wait to show my daughter the rings. Her face lit up as I told her the story about my daddy purchasing the diamond ring some 60 years ago for my mother. As she tried on each one of the rings, I saw the importance of passing something on. It started yesterday, with my brothers and sister giving their love and unselfishness freely. The treasure of family and love is so important and strong, that the dividing of my parents possessions did not cause words or hurt. Last night as my brothers sat in the floor going through the millions of fishing lures and dividing them among themselves and their boys, it occurred to me that we all found our treasure yesterday. The exact one we were looking for. It was inside all of us and we will continue to pass it on.