Things in Common

Keepers

I remember the search, the quest, the uncovering, the test, and at last the finding. My perfect little bench made well and solid - a beautiful walnut wood. Each store, flea market, yard sale, antique shop was part of the trail, a journey that intimated quietly at first, then more loudly, not yet, not quite right. These words surfaced from a lonely usually silent place and as I heard them each time, it felt as though I went a little deeper into the center of my being and more clearly heard the shy child within. She had liked to play under walnut trees for hours, tasting of their secret centers a sweetness that could not compare. As she sheltered in its shade and sought the small kernels within each hard, resistant shell, she found a peaceful communion and stories to share with the woods, the fairies, and the animals that peered at her from the thickly wooded hollow. And now, there is a walnut bench with a secret center of goodness that sits beside me where I write and dream...and I feel the child coming out of her shell.

My mam liked owls, but I liked Betty Boop. It was a joke between us - I would frown and shake my head at each new addition to her owl collection, and she would roll her eyes at each Betty Boop drawing I made and cartoon I watched. My mam and I - so alike and yet so different. She had a darkness in her soul and sometimes spent days in bed with the curtains drawn - it was no good to try and talk to her in these moods when even her owls could not bring her wisdom or joy.

I liked Betty for several reasons; she spoke to me of amazing transitions - she did after all begin as a little French poodle. I believed people underestimated the hair-brained Betty, and that she was not a bimbo, but simply an innocent in this world. Finding out that she had strict German parents made me even fonder of her and more convinced of our potential to be friends. I kind of liked her in the old black-and-whites best, but then again, weird child that I was, I kind of liked most black-and-whites - especially the ones with the great musical backgrounds. So here in my office sits an owl for Mam and a Betty for me - I wonder if Mam shakes her head to see this or, if like me, sees one in the other.