We’re sitting in the car as gray clouds gather and light rain sprinkles the dusty old Texas cemetery.

Memory erupts in the calm silence of honor as we quietly gaze at and contemplate the Wilks’ family plot and gravestones.

Mom and Dad Wilks lived, loved, and left a legacy of hard-work, moral values, and deep faith. These are yesterday’s hearty handles to

grip and use today, tomorrow. The horizon surrounding the graveyard stretches for miles and miles but certainly not forever.

There is and will be life abundant beyond this place and day of reverent gratitude—beyond the reconciling of things holy and common,

things eternal and fleeting. I’m determined that joy will overtake earth’s sorrow; but it can’t and won’t, unless we stop for death.

©️Bonnie Saul Wilks

Dec 16, 2021