While we move forward, there are some things that must go while other things must remain. Somethings will stay unchanged; other things will be reshaped and made new. For that to happen, the foundation must be firm. It is that connection with who we were that informs and shapes who we can become.
Over the last year I have been spending time walking beside my in-laws as they prepared to move from their home of 60 years into a much smaller two bedroom apartment. It was a difficult journey. Many things had to go and, even though they no longer held a practical purpose, the letting go was indeed difficult. Every day was a walk down memory lane and every day was filled with grief as they said good-bye.
One of the things that meant most to them in this process was when someone else, child, grandchild, neighbour or stranger, was able to take something and repurpose it and give it a new home. We were able to do that for a number of things. Some things I took I really wondered why and what I would or could do with them. But as they were transferred from their home to my basement, and as I sat with them a while, more often than not something new emerged. A little tender care, some reshaping or remolding, and what was once old becomes something new.
The Old - The New - The Firm Foundation
A few years ago I remember doing this with a few old things around our home in Newfoundland and this is what I wrote:
Take the old and make it new
with plant and sand and sign
wheelbarrow, bike and boxcar
create a unique design
To strangers these are simply things
but to those who know them well
they connect the past and present
and a story they do tell.
Hard work, fun and laughter
and a love that knows no bounds
A place of refuge and of joy
where family is found.
Today I am reminded that while moving ahead is important and sometimes that means getting rid of the stuff that weighs us down, the foundation upon which we stand must be firm. This means that there are things that we will need to carry forward with us just as they are; there are things that we can carry forward that simply need to be made new; and that connection with who we were informs and shapes who we can become.
Blessings
Valerie