December 23, 2006

Empty Porches

The air is crisp, clear, and clean. Darkness is settling in, as the sun is now going down earlier and earlier. It’s 6:30 PM and the sun seems to be trying to hang on, but it is losing. Those who live on the porches are all but in tonight. It’s windy and fifty-five degrees, but it feels much colder; the forecast is calling for a low of thirty-nine degrees. Those in the apartments are never quite sure when the heat will come on. There seems to be some arbitrary formula of when the old boilers in the basement of each apartment will come to life (usually sometime at the end of October). It is common for the neighbors to turn on the gas stove in the kitchen to take the chill off the apartment. In my mind’s eye, I see a mother trying to wake up her children, prying them out of their warm beds into the chilly bedroom. I see children in their sweat shirts and sweat pants, finally, rising from bed to go to the warm kitchen for a bowl of cereal before going to school. Afterwards hair and teeth are brushed, clothes changed, jackets zipped into place, book bags packed, then out the door to sit on the porch and wait for the bus.

With winter approaching I know about the only time I will see my neighbors is while they are on the porch waiting for the bus or as the children play in the snow. I know that soon the porches will be empty until spring. Tonight as I gaze at the empty porches I wonder how my friends spend the winter. Fondly, I look at each porch, remembering all the people who have shared so much with me. I will cherish the memories made on the porches - - - laughter, conversations, cookouts, wedding receptions, baby showers, bugs, games, and even the heartbreaks. I look forward to the spring when new life not only returns to nature but also to the neighborhood.

Now as the end of the year approaches we all have a chance to look back over the past year and remember. If you are like me and my neighbors, you can think of all the struggles and difficulties and the times that hopelessness was experienced; yet when the positive memories are added, hope is created. I am learning to let all memories, both good and bad, teach me about life. I think on Christmas Eve, I will think about all the gifts that God has given me - - - Jesus, my family, my friends, the gift of memory, and will be thankful.