Garbage Day…
comes around once a week whether you want it to or not. About now, you are scratching your head wondering where in the world this is going. Doesn’t everyone want to get rid of the garbage? In years not too long ago, our house was full, resulting in much daily garbage. Trash day couldn’t get here quickly enough as we needed to empty to make room for more….
And then there were the parties myDarlin’ Robert Kenui Pope and I hosted… We planned invitations, the music, the menu and yes – the garbage. In the rolodex of my memory, I can distinctly remember on day one of my summer vacation preparing for the party, pulling every trash can to the back yard. I was surrounded by a host of cans (none of which by the way were actual cans) and poured soap and bleach in each one before pulling the heavy garden hose across the grass to fill each one with water. And the sun beat down on my back, as the spray of water sent droplets of soapy bleach water through the air adding polka dots to the clothes I wore. And our kids strategically placed the trash cans throughout the deck, the house, the drive and yard after filling each with a stash of trash bags. And we were all on trash duty throughout the party, in between eating, laughing, playing, catching up with old friends, meeting new friends, listening to music and running through the yard. And for a good party, it often took two weeks to return to a normal state of garbage days.
And with today comes the trash of days gone by…. the toy three wheeler that once sat under the Christmas tree, now sits by the side of the road broken and neglected as children grow older and move on to different interests, the plastic picnic table where small children sat with their own to eat and laugh at our parties and the cracked cooler that once held a picnic lunch carried to the beach. And If this rubbish, as myDarlin’ called it, could talk I wonder what stories it would share with us; the excitement of a getting a new ‘owner’, the pleasure of a useful life and the sorrow of being used, broken, unwanted and discarded.
Today I am filled with gratitude for Garbage Day, as it represents a life well and fully lived. And after the party, we rested in each other’s arms and he said to me, ”We have a good life Baby” to which I replied, “Yes we do myDarlin”, then we both said to each other, “Did you remember to take the trash out?”
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