The old man was standing on his front porch,
waiting for the auctioneer to arrive.  He wouldn't have to
wait long, for by ten o'clock the auctioneer showed up;
along with a good sized crowd.  They were all waiting to
bid on everything he owned.  The old man was selling
out.  He was selling everything that he and his wife Sara  
had ever owned.  All of his land would be sold as well.
Yes, soon it would no longer be 'his' crop field.  It was a
small field, yet it had been good to him and Sara and had
yielded many a good corn crop over the years.

This was it....he was about to lose everything he had -
and everything he had, had taken years of hard work to
get....the land, the farm...everything.  After his wife Sara
had died, the old man had sure been lonely.  It just wasn't
the same without Sara around to share it all with.  But he
knew that his Sara was now with the Lord.

Sara was a Christian when she left this earth, and he too  
was a Christian.  He loved the Lord with all of his heart.
Through all of the years they'd been married, they had
always enjoyed reading their Bible together each night  
before going to sleep. They'd always prayed together too,
every night.  Yes, they'd always shared a love for the Lord.
Years ago, before they'd ever gotten married, they had both
Invited Jesus Christ into their hearts and had made that
commitment.  So he knew where his Sara was now.  

The old man had become rather sickly in his old age, so his
oldest son had decided it would be best for him to live out
the rest of his days in a Nursing Home.  The old man hadn't
given him any argument about it either, when he'd come  
over to talk to him about selling out.

His eyes now rested on the crowd of people that
had gathered.  Where had they all come from?  He
recognized only a few faces among the large crowd.  He
could see the anticipation on their faces.  He knew that
his and Sara's home and belongings held no special mean-
ing to them.  They were strangers...strangers who had come
to buy as much as they could - as cheap as they could.

The old man was talking to himself  "Well, I ain't
takin'  none of this with me when I leave this earth one
day, so they kin take it...they kin take it all....all except one  
thang.....they ain't  a'gonna take Sara's rockin' chair !"
"It  ain't  a'movin' off'a  this porch !"   "Why by golly, if I
have to, I'll fight 'em for it !"

It was just about the only real present he'd ever been  
able to buy for his Sara; and "By golly they wudn't a'gonna
get it !"  "Noo-sirreee !"  the old man said aloud.

"She'd sure 'nuf loved that ole rocker.  She'd just 'bout
wore it out too.  And why she'd ever married a poor ole
dirt farmer like me, I just can't figure out.  Me, who's never
had more'n three or four years of a'school'in in my whole
life....."  "I still can't talk good English; can't spell better
an' ole Hoot Owl.  But I don't need much school'in  to know
that I sure love my Saviour and I know He lives right
here in my heart.  And I know I always loved my Sara too.
Tho'  bless her heart  'coz I sure don't know what she ever
saw in me.  Guess only the Good Lord can answer that
one.  But she sure 'nuf  loved her rocker.  Why I kin still
'member the first day I brung it home to her......"

"Near forty years ago I thank
When I brung her Rockin' Chair
Toted it in my Pick-up truck...
Set it on the porch, rhat there

Back 'n' forth she'd get to go'in
Reckon she'd fall right asleep!
I'd sneak up behind her an' yell  'SNAKE !'
She'd  a'holler and jump to her feet

But jest Sara could sit in it
'Coz ever'body done knew better
Tho' one day, jest to rile her up
I hit it down the Fruit Cellar

She come runnin' out to the field
Tears  a'rollin' down her cheeks
Yellin' "Somebody done stole my rocker !"
Why, I felt like an ole' skunk for weeks.

She knitted for our youngins
While sittin' in that ole rocker
An' didn't wont no fancy new one
When they was a'sellin' down't a Fair

Time come, she couldn't rock no more
Ole Doc done gave her the 'long face'
One last time a'fore she died
She sat in her rocker - her Bible in place

Oft'  times I git lonesome for my Sara
An'  sorely miss her sweet smile
Ever' day I sit outside on the porch
Readin' my Bible; talkin' to the Lord for a while

Sara always called me her 'Punkin'
Reckon I called her my 'Sugar Pie'
One time she reached over an' pinched me
Being ornery I'd called her a 'Sugar Fly'

The paint wore off her rocker, so I touched it up
Jest to surprise her, but oh forbid !
Forgot to mention the paint wudn't dry
I got it good with the fly-swatter.. I did !

I  'member  'fore she died, she says
"Punkin, I'll be waitin' for my feller
Now you take good care of my rocker
-Don't go puttin' it down the Fruit Cellar."

'Then thar was the time when.........'

All of a sudden the old man was stirred back to the  
present by the Auctioneer's loud voice.  When he looked
up, he saw a whole slew of trucks -all loaded up and getting
ready to drive off.  Yep, they were carrying off the pieces
of his and Sara's life.

The crowd was thinning out now.  Everyone was  
leaving.

"Guess they done took 'bout ever'thang they
could git their hands on."  the old man said to himself.

"Nope, there's nuthin' left...no tractor, no plow...not
even the cows.  Nuthin' left in the house; nuthin' left  
in the barn....They even took that ole tire a'hangin' from  
our big Oak Tree....Why, our youngins use to sit on that
old tire and swing when they was kids.  Yes sir, ever'-
thang's gone....ever'thang 'cept for Sara's ole rocker.  
Guess they didn't wont that rocker anyhow.  I sure am
glad, 'coz they wudn't a'gonna git it !"

The old man felt kinda sad watching all of his and Sara's  
belongings being hauled off.  'Well that's okay 'coz when  
I  leave this earth I ain't gonna be takin' nothin' with me.'  

He looked over at the rocking chair, still sitting there on the  
porch.  He couldn't help but smile just then.  He'd never sat  
in it before.  He decided right then, at that very moment, that
he'd just go sit down in Sara's ole rocker...for the first time.

That's where his son found him too, when he showed up
that very same evening.  He had come to pick his dad up
and take him over to the Nursing Home.  He found the
old man on the front porch, still in the rocking chair.

But he was gone.  Just his earthly shell was left.  He had  
gone on to be with the Lord, and with his Sara.