by David Scott Robertson
One Christmas, when I was a little boy,
I got a beautiful book as a gift from my Aunt.
As was our custom,
As many as could
Would gather at Grandma and Grandpa’s home in rural Illinois.
On Christmas Eve,
We’d gather around the three and exchange gifts.
Usually, after we had opened a gift, we would hug and kiss our relative
And then pass the gift around for others to look at.
Grandpa was paging through the book I got from my Aunt.
He was eating chocolate fudge cake all the time.
It was all over his fingers and naturally some of it smudged on the pages
As he flipped through the book.
I remember being upset about my crisp new book being soiled by chocolate on the pages!
Time has passed and so has Grandpa.
I kept that beautiful book and some time ago paged through it with my 6-year-old daughter.
And there it was.
Chocolate on the page.
I knew exactly how it got there.
Instantly my mind recreated the entire setting…
In a flash, thoughts, memories and love welled up for a man whom I loved and who loved me all my life.
I guess my point is that no everything that smudges your life is bad.
In the long run,
We may be most grateful
For scars, dents and stains,
Because in their own unlikely way,
They may provide a link to an event
Or a person who has touched our lives in a beautiful way.
DSR, August 6, 1998