Keeping the fork

There's a story I've heard many times, that I always like to hear once more.

As she was preparing for the inevitable, and making her funeral plans, an elderly woman was talking with her preacher about her wishes.

"And, make sure I'm buried with a fork," she commands.

"A fork? Like a table fork?"

"Yes, a table fork," she replies. "As a child, my grandmother and mother would always remind us to keep our forks at the end of the meal, because dessert was coming. We'd hold our forks in hand, and wait for the best part of the entire meal. All my life, I've remembered to hold my fork, the best is yet to come. And, so, when I am buried, I want a fork in my hand - I'll be ready."

I've heard this story told at funerals, at pep talks, in church services, and there is always some inspiring point that follows it. When we talked with the boys about a New Year, and all that we want it to hold, we each had the same theme: optimism. We are all looking forward to good things to come.

So, in 2012, we are keeping our forks.