time again to open the chest of gifts

You have a treasure box
he said...
it is filled with gifts
unique to you
and gifts no one
can ever take away from you
no matter what.

Gifts of
people, places
food, art
books, movies,
music, smells,
tastes, dreams,
feelings, memories,
so many gifts....

I can tell you about my gifts
but you can not ever know them the way I do.
You have some gifts similar to mine
but not exactly like mine.
For instance...
I can describe a particular smell
but you will never be able
to smell it the way I do.
These are gifts
uniquely mine.

You have them too.

Today I have a need to remember
some of my gifts.....
because these gifts
remind me I have a home
and I am at home.

Gifts that are mine:

kelly green curtains in my all white bedroom

the smell of waffles on the
antique waffle iron on Saturday morning

the feeling of surprise when my brother
crawled into my room at night and
grabbed my toes from the end of my bed

that old eight track tape player
my sister had in her Chevy Vega
we listened to Cat Stevens,
the Eagles, Santana and Carol King

the smell of the old Cortez motor home

watching tv in my parents bed on a summer
morning while my mother got ready for work

driving my dads car with a sun roof the first time

the Quintana Breeze blowing through the
screen window at the beech house

sitting in Nana W's gold Lazy Boy chair eating
a five course snack on a tray

biting into one of Nana S's sugar cookies...
hard and sweet

the train whistle blowing at night
just before falling asleep

These gifts
are my home....
and when I loose a sense of
being at home...
I pull these
gifts out one at a time
and savor.

I just did....
and feel at home
once again.