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Photo by Jennifer Mandell © 2012
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I appreciate my mind and the things
it can do,
the enduring sense of optimism
I inherited from you,
the strings on my guitar and
the notes they can play,
the little joys I find in each
passing day.
I appreciate the little things
that make me smile,
and anything that can engross me
for a while,
the colorful brilliance of the
late evening sky,
the softness of the grass in the
field where I lie.
The sound of laughter and the
shedding of tears,
friendships that have
endured throughout the years,
the promises of spring and the
smells of fall,
the way that I still remember it
all.
I appreciate that life is here and
then it's gone,
that the truths are things we have
known all along,
that the real measure of a life
well-lived
lies in a person's capacity
to give.
It matters not the material things
left behind,
but how often
you cross another person's mind,
are others inspired by the life
that you've led,
do you motivate them to get out of
bed.
To dust themselves off and try yet
again,
to be there for others that they
call "friend",
to be more than they thought they
could be,
you were one of those people
for me.
Not here anymore, but not really
gone,
because my memories of you still
live on.
© 2012 Jennifer
Mandell. All rights reserved.
