Matters of the Heart...

Real-Presence

 

It hung there

the old coat

day after day

in the front closet

along with

the faint scent

of Mennen’s After-Shave.

 

 

We kept telling her

to give it to Goodwill.

“In due time…”

she would say.

She said it reminded her

of him

and their 60 years

together.

 

 

And then one day

there was no answer

when we made our check-in phone call.

 

 

We hurried over

and got in through the garage

our secret agreed-upon passageway.

 

 

She did not answer when we called “Mom?”

When we opened the bedroom door

there she was

curled up on her bed

gone home to God

wrapped in that old coat.

 

-         Carla Mae Streeter, OP, 2015