the fork~

Everybody has their favorite thing ... like that old sweatshirt or jeans, your nice soft blanket, jewelry, cd's, pictures, a pillow, etc...

Well ... mine is a fork.

It's not just any old ordinary fork ... this fork has a history.  It was given to me by my Dad about 20 years ago when we were setting up our camper's kitchen.  Mom had a bunch of old silverware and dishes that she said I could rummage through to use.  In the mess of silverware was this fork.

When my Dad saw the old fork in the pile of silverware that I was sifting through he said, "well there's that old fork".  Of course, I had to know why he mentioned it.

He went on to tell me that it was the fork that was issued to him when he was on ship with the Navy, stationed in the Aluetian Islands in the Bering Sea by Alaska during WWII.  Notice on it's handle the USN stamp.  Why he kept it ...  who knows ~ but it was his ... and now it was mine.  He told me to keep it and think of him when he was gone.  It's been a few years now since he passed away ~ but every day ... every meal ... I eat with Daddy's fork.  Thank you Daddy for such a wonderful gift.

Now... another story about the fork

A few years back, a good friend of mine passed away.  I was asked to write a eulogy for her funeral.  I didn't know the first thing about doing that ... so I turned my searching for words and the proper way about doing it to the internet search engines ... and you know how you get side tracked when doing something?  It happens to me all the time ... anyhooooooooooooo

I came across this story and it has been in my head ever since.  Also... those of you who know me ~ know that I have some major health issues with my heart and I think about my death sometimes ... probably more than normal.  blah blah blah .... but it's true.

So....
I had a talk with my pastor and he had asked me if I had any wishes regarding my funeral.  Well...  I do.
I told him about this story I found on the internet and I would like to have the same done for me.

Here's my request.

When I am laid out in my casket ... I would like to have my Daddy's fork in my hand.

Now...
I know ~ there will be people looking down at me in my casket and they will be wondering ... some will probably even be making remarks out loud over it, like ... OMG... she's even taking her fork to Heaven ... didn't she use it enough while on Earth?  Oh... that poor fat girl ... she just couldn't lay it down... you get my drift?

I asked  Pastor not to tell anyone about it until it was time for my funeral sermon.

Then I asked for him to include in the service the story about the fork.

You know when you go out to eat and the waitress says, "hang on to your fork, there's better things coming" ... meaning the dessert.

Well so it is with life.  We all know that our eternal day on Earth is inevitable ... we are all going to die ... BUT ... for us Christians we BELIEVE that there is a better thing coming!  ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN !!  How wonderful is that!

So hang on to your fork ~ our dessert is coming!
~~~***~~~

another note ...
yes ... I do love food ... so much so that I started another blog with my recipe collection on it.  It's called Cooking Up North With Mel  check it out.

Some of the recipes that I have posted so far I've already posted before on this blog and my old blog; but hang on ... better things are coming. 

Until next time...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel