It's a Lifetime Away

It’s only fifteen hundred miles From Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, To Omaha, Nebraska, But it’s a lifetime away. All those good years and bad years, The old furniture and the new, The thumbed wedding album, The baby books, class pictures, Weddings and more babies. What to save and what must go. Save the pictures of friends And neighborhood parties, Of church suppers and Community picnics and Potluck lunches on the beach, To savor again in the new life. Dole out to the family the Initialed silver spoons and The silver tea service and Grandma’s wedding dress. Framed pictures of aunts and Uncles long gone from this earth. Great Aunt Adelaide’s’ hope chest With quilts she made a century ago. Keep the mask made by the Maoris, The flowered pottery plate Bought in a tiny blue and white Shop in Santorini, and the albums Of trips filled with adventures In far-flung destinations. Leave souvenirs, leave china And champagne glasses and The broken set of everyday dishes. Take Grandma’s gold-rimmed Limoges plates to use every day. Get rid of kitchen pots and pans, Food savers and utensils, Cooking magazines and books. But keep the seasoned iron skillet, The baking sheets and pottery bowls, The cookie cutters and the years Of treasured recipes in the yellow box. Out with worn sheets and towels, The whole junk drawer in the kitchen, Big tablecloths, and clothes and shoes Too big or too small or way too old. Why all these tiny labels, rubber bands, Covers without lids, lids to nothing, Old glasses, broken belts, bits And pieces of things long lost? Sixty-seven years of life well-lived To condense into a brand-new Two-bedroom apartment with Walk-in closets and a tiny kitchen. No meals to get, no cleaning to do, But there will be new friends to make And new activities to enjoy, so We move on, deciding what to Take and what is too precious To us to leave behind Because home is always with us, Wherever we wind up living, No matter what things we have Or how far it is from here to there.