Somewhere in rural Nebraska,
in her farmhouse kitchen,
as was her custom,
Dolores wrote on the square of chalkboard
her axiom of the week:

    We don't need more of what we've got,
     we just need to be more grateful for it.

Within two weeks,
Dolores passed away,
leaving empty her various roles
of wife and mother, churchgoer and philosopher.

Twenty years have passed,
and those words remain,
unerased…not even smudged.

Her husband continues to shuffle into that kitchen every morning;
her daughters–every month or two–
travel back home to restock the cereal and toilet paper–
putting fresh milk in the same old refrigerator
that still runs
beside the blackboard
that still offers its reminder
of love and gratitude.

One of those daughters tells me,
"It's comforting;
she's still there."
She points to her heart:
"She's still here."

Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.