Cousin Geri

Has passed
into the clearing
at the end of the path
and those that remain
must consider
the impact
of the departed

A key tenant

a key belief

of the old Norse

(from which stock our family came)

was the sacredness

the importance and gravity

of hospitality

To feed and house

and make comfortable

those guests

you have the fortune

to welcome

to your hearth and home

This we carried

from the fjord's of Norway

to the lakes of Wisconsin

and which my Grandma Bertha

passed along to my cousin Geri

and which she, in turn, gave to me

As a child

upon each visit

there was pop in the fridge

cookies and chips in the cabinet

a clean soft bed for me to sleep

her welcoming (but eccentric) poodle to play with

visits to the Mall of America

and most of all

her unassuming

yet unshakable

kindness and attention

This shaped me

how I keep my home

how I treat guests

my expectations

about what hospitality is

what it means to care