Memory-Food-Love-Family

 

Charlie and Ellen Dickinson

the universe is a mystery of mysteries,

who? when? where? how?

the "who" very easy to define as the primal architect,

God, for many of us,

for others, chance settling into the rules

that sets how the game works on the field 

and gives the players time and space to evolve,

and each story has its sequels,

we talk with two cousins, scientists, about their lives, their labs,

her voice excited, her eyes a-twinkle,

as she describes the wonders that revealed themselves

as rules were learned, 

the awe she felt when

pattern gloried before her, 

and still glories in her telling,

molecules growing, coming together,

like with the plants she loves and nurtures,

the fun of a key working, of a key not working,

keeping her ego in check 

so that the thrill of finding the right

dwarfs her proprietorship of her own hypothesis guess,

though she does tell us proudly of a time

when another's take wasn't supported by facts revealed,

and hers was,

as she and her beloved husband age past their working years,

they still love the instruments they play,

the music that sings to them of order, beauty,

of the same rightness they felt in the science they lived,

in the love they share, in the foods we all share

which hug us all with memory and the sense of rightness,

like when an experiment answers a question they've asked,

when a book they've read captures them in the world of its story,

when time with family or friends confirms them in who they are,

at their most basic,

for these two special people,

I particularly love the science in each of their souls,

the minds that love the mystery, and love the quest to solve it,

I also treasure the candies, cookies, and custard they share with us,

plus the overwhelming curiosity and love that reaches out to all of us,

the world is darkening outside,

their Light is a wonderful response,

as he e mailed us back:

"Memory-Food-Love-Family, what a Quartet!"

by Henry H. Walker

December 29, ‘23