The Greatest Tresure of all

Being poor, and without the ones you love, tends to bring things into a perspective. In this case materialism, somthing I never realized how much I was into.
Always working, and buying, things things, and more things. What hole was I trying to fill,in retrospect it must have been more than just an empty spot on a shelf,
or a toolbox. Now , I have had to place monetary values on everything around me, and done away with much of it. This stuff of which I speak used to be what I would call my material treasures. Also things like arrowheads, and fossils I had found, I placed so much valueon them, still do kinda. I am also very proud of anything that I have from my family's past, heirlooms(sp) always wondering why nothing in my family from either side had been passed down, always wondering where my treasure was.
Then I found it. Like lost relics from an extinct civilation, stuff I had once looked at and used as decoration, valued to be sure, but never before seen as being more valuable than gold, or palladium or diamonds.
What I speak of specifically now, sits right here with me, and would be lucky to get .25 cents at a yard sale, in fact some of it is lucky to not have been broken.
I am looking now on two pieces of clay artwork made one by each of my children. A shoe, made by my daughter, and somthing that resembles an ashtry, probrably a jewry holder made by my son. They were not even made for me, or were they? I , not having them , not bieng able to touch , hear and love them because of divorce, now see all kinds of things around me that are worth more than any artifact in any egyptian tomb anywhere. It kind of makes me sorry for the people in those tombs, surely back then, gold was more like clay, just something they could work, and many artifacts are in fact clay, or paintings, or other trinkets that we study and analyze and wonder why they would be put in a grave. Most of the time the archiologist put the artifacts as being valued by the people who loved the dead, or something they would need in the afterlife. I wonder if that helps them take the things. Has anyone thought that maybe the things were the most important to the dead one, the owner.

Now I am not dead, and hope not to be anytime soon, but back to the subject, I have here a tiny shoe, no a moccasin, made of white clay, and intricately detailed with laces, stich patterns, blue , green, yellow paint. Somthing that I can hold and feel the imprints of my childrens fingers, burned now forever into it. I know they made them for thier parents also, so I know the love, and pride they had are burnt into them as well. They must have been smiling as they showed them to us the first time, waiting for that smile, approval from thier paerents.

These are the most valuable things I posses in this world. Take everything I have, leave me with the clothes on my back, and only let me take one bag from here with me, and it will be filled with these treasures from my wife and childfren. Things to be sure, not even close to relationships, or them, but if I were a pharoh, if I were a king, these are the most important and valuable items I hae ever gazed at, much less had.

Knowone can buy them, knowone can make another, they are truelly priceless to me, I like to feel them, and remember, somehow hoping that the love I have in my heart is sent through them to the ones who made them.

I dont have many things my wife made, I ate all the good stuff. But as wierd as it sounds, I have two steaks , the only meat in my freezer, that she wrapped. Even though I would never eat them, every time I open the freezer, I know she was here.

People, value the ones around you, the ones who if they were not around, you would keep anything they had touched, anything. If I had known how to show that love thats allways been there, but taken for granted, I have to think maybe they mught still be here.

I love you, Kirsten, Justin, Carol. I hate even writng the names , because I have to choose an order, and thier is none, Just a love, and an ache in my soul that I cannot describe.

Well back to my artifacts, I think maybe if I rub them enough, maybe a cloud of smoke will appear and puff!! They will be back!!

Stupid huh.