The Broken Things
I have an inordinate number of broken things in my house: chipped
coffee cups, bowls and plates, DVD players that don’t play DVDs, clocks that no
longer tell time, a telescope missing a lens, vacuums that don’t vacuum,
computers that don’t compute, a cabinet without a door, doors with no
locks. I could go on, but you get the
point.
My husband, bless his heart, was a tinkerer. He saw no reason to throw out anything, and I
mean anything. There was always a “fix”
for whatever was broken. He did fix
many, many things. And many things he
never got around to fixing. When his
health failed, all that was broken stayed broken; and then the biggest broken of all happened to me. I lost my husband and I was broken.
It begs the question, really, when to let go of that which
is broken. Things are easy – fix it or
throw it away, I guess. But what about
hearts that are broken? What about the people
who have been broken through disease, addiction, toxic relationships? Or the children who have been broken through abuse, neglect, bullying? Broken people are not
disposable, are they?
And so, I would say to you, if you notice that there is a broken someone in your world, don’t turn
your head, maybe I should say don’t turn your heart, and look away. Because we can always replace a coffee cup,
we can always fix a door. But the broken people in our lives, they need
us. And I suspect we need them; to learn
compassion, to learn love, to learn....
This is beautiful Holly. You've helped my broken heart heal a little with your words, actions, hugs and strength. It's in the Beyer DNA to hang on to things that can be fixed or used somewhere else. It comes from our dear dad - I wish I could remember all of the things he made or fixed for us kids. With 7 of us, it was a necessity! However in those days things weren't disposable- they lasted forever!! Anyway, I will take your words to heart and remember to reach out to people that may need a shoulder. I love you Holly Beyer.
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