This dear and difficult world

Inscription

No one misses Martha Heckett anymore.
She died years ago as did all of her friends.
My young mother knew her when she
attended Church of Christ, the single mom
with four kids who needed all the help she
could get. Martha and Brother Bill were
there and helped. Brother Bill bought us
groceries a few times, always welcomed
us at the Sunday chapel door. Martha gave
mother a bible. Every so often, I would
have to move that bible to get to another
book and found myself opening it on
occasion. Not to read words of comfort
or inspiration, but to read what Martha
had written inside to my mother, some
small moment laid out in heartfelt cursive.
I can’t recall the words, but I liked reading
them and remembering Martha’s kind face,
a face lost to my recollection now as all
memory of her has left this dear and difficult
world, as my mother’s children have left
to go about their lives. No one misses Martha
Heckett anymore. But her inscription endures.

Joseph Gallo
November 9, 2011