Silver-haired mother
of four, grandmother
of hundreds and
friend of the heart to me,
Liberty healed others
with books she read
and dispensed—this 5-foot
tall elder who
has the same middle
name—Lisbeth—as I.
Wide grin under
twinkly blue eyes, silence
held her thoughts
until requested and then
her tree-ring
wrinkles lifted as she spoke
and resettled
perfectly around her smile.
She won at scrabble,
cheating guilelessly.
She gave away all her
pots and pans but
one, divesting before
moving into
assisted living. We worshipped reading
aloud. When her
memory went, we found
the same passages
thrilled daily anew.
Her ministry was one of loving words
and thoughts as they embraced each other and
mingled in sentences and paragraphs,
accumulated daringly between
covers, and then opened to spark freedom.
Her ministry was one of loving words
and thoughts as they embraced each other and
mingled in sentences and paragraphs,
accumulated daringly between
covers, and then opened to spark freedom.
Copyright © 2015 S.L.Chast