In the middle of winter when I have to shovel a path to fill the bird feeder I remember a story by a Canadian writer about her father clearing a path through the snow to fill his bird feeders.
Even in the middle of a bitter winter, he never forgot to feed his birds. She wrote the story after he died.
I had forgotten to fill my bird feeder.
It was cold outside. There was snow on the back deck. My bird feeder had been empty for two days. Or was it three? I will do it tomorrow. And then I forgot again.
As I shoveled a path to the feeder, I remembered the story by the Canadian writer about her elderly father trudging through the snow to fill his bird feeders. I can’t remember the word she used to describe his walk. But, he had trouble walking. Or the snow was deep. But, I remember she loved her father. And I remember the image of him walking through deep snow to fill his bird feeders.
Stories about lives remembered bring us backward while allowing us to move forward.
― Nina Sankovitch, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading
I often think of her and her father. I wonder if she knows that I remember her father when I fill my bird feeder? I read her story over four years ago when I joined the Slice of Life Story Challenge. She was one of the daily slicers. I can’t remember the writers name, but I remember her father. Maria? Was that her name? I hate that I forget names.
A story can keep the thread of memory alive, and even though the person is dead, their story lives in the words we share.
Today, the day I filled my bird feeder, I pray for the writer who misses her father. I pray her bird feeder is always full, and that she thinks of her father when she sees the birds come. As I think of my father when I see a Robin in the spring.
What reminds you a loved one who has died? Please share a special memory, or a photograph. I would love to meet someone you love. Please click here to comment, or just scroll to the bottom of the page on my blog.
xo
Love Pamela
This month I am taking part in the Slice of Life Story Challenge, hosted at Two Writing Teachers. Where over two hundred writers share slices of their life. Click on the orange if you would like to read their stories.
