It's more than just the sweater that little sister wore.
It's more than tea time china cups that grandma kept in store.
The cozy quilt hand stitched with love that mom has kept for you
Or the favorite book from dad although you know it's not quite new.

We inherit so many things from generations past
We try them on and if they fit somehow they seem to last.
Every family has them, for some it's all they get.
Some hand me downs are riches, some hand me downs are debt.

The riches of a smile, the gem thats in a touch.
The pricelessness of honesty that means so very much
A kind word to a child when he deserves your wrath
A house that goes to sleep at night on the ripples of a laugh.

Forgiveness is a hand me down taught to the very young.
As is the dull or sharpness of the cutting of the tongue.
Some hand down a horrid hate for the color of a skin
Instead of looking deep to see the beauty that's within.

In the end we have a choice to mind what it is that we hand down
Sometimes it's just as simple as a smile or a frown.

10/21/2001

Posted on 10/21/2001
Copyright © 2024 Mary Ellen Smith