Catholic Singles

KEEP YOUR FORK
BY: MARK ANTHONY ROSOLOWSKI

A long time ago, I heard a very interesting story that has stayed with me throughout the years. The first time I heard this story I laughed as it did strike me as being funny, however looking back on it; it is a very real and serious story. I saw this story actually come to life and when it hit me, all I could see was the love and devotion that this person had for God. So if anyone remembers, “The Golden Girls”, I will start this story the way she started so many of hers. Picture this, it is New York, the year 1986, I was a young man, and I was reading, Reader’s Digest, when I saw a story that caught my eye.

The story told of an elderly woman who was at her church pot luck dinner. According to this story her church had a pot luck dinner once a month. It was arranged that way so that those that were elderly would have a place to eat where there were many of their friends and “family” members around, so they would not have to dine alone. After the meal the servers would go around and collect the plates and utensils and do a quick clean up. As they cleaned up they would tell everyone, “Keep your fork, dessert is on the way.” Of course, everyone held on to their forks because dessert was on the way, and dessert is the best part of the meal.

The story continues that when the elderly lady was dying she requested that she be buried with her fork in her hand. When asked why she said, that she has lived a long life on earth and it was now time for her to get dessert and that will be the best part. I never thought about that story much until I went to the wake of a friends mother, in her hand along with her Rosary was a fork. I understood the fork and when talking to my friend he showed me that story in a frame. He told me it was on her bedside table for as long as he could remember and he just had to put the fork in her hand.

The more I think about that story the more it rings true. Our lives are like a potluck dinner, we are never sure of what the next course will be, but we do know that at the end of life, the dessert will be the best part.