Today you are you!
That is truer than true!
There is no one alive who is you-er than you!

~ Dr Seuss

Used with kind permission of Ese at Ese’s Voice

We leave traces of ourselves for the future to discover, to know us from the fragments. My mother left me her diamond ring, her sewing machine, a scarf from Paris, her bible and a memory of love. Her love provided my place in the world, surrounding me with a sense of safety so deep I took it completely for granted. I had slid into place in her love with a click that still rings in my ears. I didn’t even realize what I had until it was gone, leaving its place in my heart empty, like an underground cave echoing the booming of the sea. When I lost her, my father created a new place for me in a new family, and I appreciate his doing that, but I never regained that deep sense of security or felt the click as I slid into my place.

I have tried to recreate that security for my family. For my kids, my man and myself. I hope they take their love and safety for granted, because then I know I’m succeeding. In my turn, I will leave my mother’s diamond and her sewing machine, with which I sewed their baby blankets. Perhaps I will leave some other fragments which are mine alone, not least my love. I am me, and she is me. Perhaps my words will linger.

one or two jewels
our connection to the past
left for the future

Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham

Inspired by Haibun Thinking Week 6, the Seuss prompt in honor of his upcoming birthday and Ese’s Voice’s haibun picture prompt.