For Ruby--still here at 93 years

It could be thirty years ago, this place.
The same light fixtures, fading walls
patterned booths. The same four chairs
lined up beside the door for busy times
like after church. A place to put her walker.
 
We order what we’ve always had –
only now for seniors – a pancake,
whipped cream, strawberries, sausage,
bacon and a single egg over medium well.
The waitress smiles it’s been done before.
 
My mother is comfortable here, says
it’s the same waitresses, the younger one
the tall woman’s daughter. I like it here.
The memory of pumpkin pancakes
when my father was still alive, how he
 
liked to treat us, paid the tab as if out
somewhere swanky with the best girls
in town. Today, after a trip to the doctor’s
and a drive to see magnolias in bloom
it is the perfect spot.

© by Judith Heron.
Used with the author’s permission.