Mason Jars

Gone.

Twenty-three months ago.

But she lives on through Kerr and Ball.

Sixteen-ounce wide-mouth mason jars

with tin-plated, vacuum-sealing lids

still bearing her unique spelling

and penmanship—

Old Fas_ion Pears

Conserve Pears

Pear Perserves

and her family-famous Hot Pepper Jelly—

in permanent marker with the date affixed.

From what I can tell,

she was canning and preserving fruit

up until a month or two

before she received the news.