GRNADPARENT LOVE

We were visiting our granddaughter…it was nearing her 12th birthday

when we asked her what she wanted…but she was hesitant to say.

After a little coaxing on our part we finally got her to say… 

what she wanted was a birthday visit from…who else…Beyonce.

As her grandparents we immediately decided that we had to do

everything within our power to make her wish come true.

So we ordered Beyonce and Jay Z masks but all to suddenly became aware

after searching through our closets…we had nothing we could wear.

So off we went to thrift stores where we found a gold shirt for Jay Z

and a red dress that was too long for Deborah but the perfect size for me.

It was here we changed our original plan…I’m sure now you can guess.

Deborah would wear Jay Z’s gold shirt and me…Beyonce’s dress.

We went straight home to try them on and here I must admit

Deborah looked great in her gold shirt…and my dress was a perfect fit.

The morning of her birthday arrived…as it had the year before

Only this year Beyonce and Jay Z were there to greet her at her door.

And she seemed surprised and excited as the two of us held court…

first Deborah gave her a birthday hug…(who knew Jay Z was so short!)

Next it was my turn to dance with Ava although the best dancer I am not.…

But it din’t matter because in that dress…

as Beyonce…

I was looking pretty hot!

We wondered if Ava would be disappointed 

that the real Jay Z and Beyonce weren’t standing there…

but if the smile on her face was any indication…

she didn’t seem to care.

For that’s what grandparents were created for…

that is what grandparents do….

Everything within our power

to make every wish come true.

GABI AND THE CROWS

Gabi didn’t start out meaning to feed the crows…

didn’t know, then, of their gratitude.

She was just a little girl who was prone to dropping food.

As she walked to the school bus invariably she would drop part of her snack

which nearby crows would eat…and the next day would come back.

Eventually Gabi began taking extra snacks and causing quite a fuss

as she fed her crows on her way every day to and from the bus.

Gabi enjoyed this so much (obviously so did the crows)

that she started filling the bird bath in her back yard 

and laying peanuts out in rows.

The crows would happily eat the peanuts then back to her yard they would sneak

leaving trinkets behind for Gabi…shiny trinkets that would fit in their beaks

They have also leave her screws and pins and paper clips

as well as little animals that are no longer living…

but Gabi doesn’t mind these at all 

she knows

the gift is in the giving.

How wonderful that a little girl, a murder of crows

and the little presents they leave each other

can show the world how every creature

should be more like sisters and brothers.

Can show the rest of the us on this planet

by the presents they each leave

(wether it’s peanuts, dead animals or paper clips)

it is in the giving that we receive.

THE TREE

He loved to sit in the shade of his tree

for years that is what he would do…

never for a moment giving much thought

to how how the tree was loving it too.

THEIR LAST GOODBYE

As they said their last goodbye he asked,

"Was it when we stopped being lovers that made our marriage end?"

"No." she said smiling tenderly. 

"!t was when we stopped being friends."

TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY

They were silent when they reached the sea

with the birth of a new day…

some mornings ensure the quietude

when they take your breath away.

FOREVER CAME TOO SOON

They promised to love each other forever

They vowed their life would be one long honeymoon…

And it was…only they never could have anticipated

forever would come so soon.

A MOMENT IN THE BOOKSTORE

My family came to visit me in the bookstore…where I was working the other night

I greeted them as they came through the door… with a smile broad and bright…

And as they gathered round me…I paused to take a look

and think about how a person’s story…is somewhat like a book. 

Each day we add a new chapter, new pages, new paragraphs…new lines

and I was glad on this day…to add their pages into mine.

When they departed…when the door closed…with their visit at an end

my mind wandered to other memories…other pages we have penned.

For isn’t that the beauty of a family…the host of memories we’ve made…

memories we look back on…memories that never fade…

And isn’t that the beauty of a good book…you’re excited to read ahead

but you can stop anytime you want and return to pages you’ve already read.

And you realize this book you’re writing is about much more than just yourself…

and you hope when your final chapter’s written and your book is laid upon the shelf…

when others choose to read it…in a different time…a different place

the memories within its pages…will bring a smile to their face..

IF ONLY

Wouldn’t this planet be a wonderful place…starting today…if only

We never let another person ever feel lonely.

If no one ever lived in squalor, in famine or poverty.

If no one ever felt the sting of inhumanity.

If everyone in the world received an education that also taught them how to think

If everyone had access to electricity, and clean water they could drink.

If when something bad happened to us we stopped looking for someone else to blame

If no matter what a person believes in or looks like…we treated everyone the same.

If instead of being separate nations we were a nation or one

If only we felt protected by…instead of afraid of…a person with a gun

If priests didn’t molest girls and boys…that can’t be in God’s plan!

If girls and women didn’t have to worry about being molested by a man.

If everyone had a place to live with windows and a door.

If no one had to worry about health care anymore.

If wars were non existent…if we had clean rivers and skies…

If everyone understood the meaning of compromise…

If we saw the beauty in each person…if we were kind to one another 

If we treated everyone across the world as our sister and our brother…

We have the power to change the world…

we have the strength within our hearts…

If only we would take the time…

if only we would start.

SO HIGH A PRICE

She never asked to be molested

nor could she have conceived

that when she told her story

she would not be believed.

That when she told her story

she would pay so high a price.

for when people don’t believe her 

she has been molested twice.

CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY

He was confused…perplexed…bewildered…having trouble finding his way

so he got down on his knees and he began to pray…

Dear God, he asked, what happens when I find a person whose life has intertwined with mine…

When I find a like this person…when I find this person to be kind?

A person I love to talk to, with whom I can share my hopes, my dreams…my fears

A person I love to listen to…whose smile can wipe away my tears?

What happens when I find someone who makes me want each moment not to end?

“THEN CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY…FOR YOU HAVE FOUND A FRIEND!”

And what if my feelings merge into love…and what if this person feels it too?

“THEN CONSIDER YOURSELF LUCKY…FOR LOVE HAS CHOSEN YOU?”

But what if this person is my same sex…or a different religion…or yellow, red or black?

“IT DOESN’T MATTER…DOES IT…IF THIS PERSON LOVES YOU BACK?”

“FOR WHEN YOU FIND A PERSON TO SHARE YOUR LOVE THROUGH LIFE AND ALL IT’S TESTS…

THEN EVERYDAY YOU ARE ALIVE….CONSIDER YOURSELF BLESSED.”

But how can I love this person…when it is not what I’ve been taught?

And here God smiled….

“IF EVERYTHING YOU TOLD ME IS TRUE,

THEN I MUST ASK…

HOW CAN YOU NOT?”

THE OLD FISHERMEN BY THE SEA

THE OLD FISHERMEN BY THE SEA

They meet there every morning…every day of every year.

At the end of the pier they gather…with all their fishing gear.

Sometimes they greet each other by first names

Sometimes they smile instead….

Sometimes it’s a simple gesture…

a wave or a nod of the head.

As they bait their hooks and cast their lines

they chatter endlessly

about their lives, their families and sometimes fishing…

these old fishermen by the sea.

If you ask them, will they ever miss a day of fishing

they quickly say… “We won’t.”

And they are happy if they catch a fish

but just as happy if they don’t.

For though it was fishing that brought them together 

now, it seems to me,

it’s about so much more than fishing

for these old fishermen by the sea.

TRUE LOVE...IN FACEBOOK OF ALL PLACES

One never knows if they’ll be blessed with true love…it shows up in the oddest places…

but when they are it is forever etched in the smiles on their faces…

I was on my Facebook the other day…watching different stories scrolling by

when an older couple…dancing…happened to catch my eye.

They were smiling…holding hands…both adorned in the color blue

It turns out she is 90 years old…while he is 92.

They were celebrating their anniversary amid their family’s laughter, joy and cheers…

celebrating with a polka dance…as they have for 68 years.

Celebrating how even after 68 years…life continues to improve

and showing after 68 years…how they’ve still got all the moves.

But it wasn’t the dancing I was drawn to…although I must admit I was impressed

It was the feeling that I had of how their life was blessed.

Blessed for 68 years watching sunsets in the evening…then in the morning rise

68 years of happiness…right before their eyes…

And I felt blessed to find this couple…on Facebook of all places…

And as they danced the Polka…I saw it….

true love 

forever etched upon their faces…

A FEATHER AT HIS FEET

She was a beautiful woman…his friend…her heart…simple and pure

She totally believed in miracles…he…was not so sure.

As her end of life approached…as she stood upon deaths door

she spoke to him of miracles…as she never had before.

She said she couldn’t wait to see heaven…she wondered about the crowds

She wondered how easy it would be…to find her place among the clouds.

Knowing he was a skeptic…she took his hand one day

And said, when I get to heaven…I will find a way…

to help you believe in miracles…with angel wings I will take flight

I’ll get a message to you…I’ll show you everything’s all right.

He listened to her, held her hand and smiled while trying not to cry

as she spoke to him of miracles…until the day they said goodbye.

It was a few days later on a morning walk…still feeling bittersweet

when a feather floated from sky and landed at his feet.

A pure white feather which he picked up then turned his eyes up to the sky…

wondering if it had fallen off an egret flying by…

or could this be from an angel’s wing…as from heaven she took flight…

announcing to him she had made it…that everything IS all right….

And he smiled at her heavenly message…which was both sublime and sweet

that miracles can be as simple as a feather at his feet.

A FEATHER AT HIS FEET

She was a beautiful woman…his friend…her heart…simple and pure

She totally believed in miracles…he…was not so sure.

As her end of life approached…as she stood upon deaths door

she spoke to him of miracles…as she never had before.

She said she couldn’t wait to see heaven…she wondered about the crowds

She wondered how easy it would be…to find her place among the clouds.

Knowing he was a skeptic…she took his hand one day

And said, when I get to heaven…I will find a way…

to help you believe in miracles…with angel wings I will take flight

I’ll get a message to you…I’ll show you everything’s all right.

He listened to her, held her hand and smiled while trying not to cry

as she spoke to him of miracles…until the day they said goodbye.

It was a few days later on a morning walk…still feeling bittersweet

when a feather floated from sky and landed at his feet.

A pure white feather which he picked up then turned his eyes up to the sky…

wondering if it had fallen off an egret flying by…

or could this be from an angel’s wing…as from heaven she took flight…

announcing to him she had made it…that everything IS all right….

And he smiled at her heavenly message…which was both sublime and sweet

that miracles can be as simple as a feather at his feet.

HER CIRCLE IS COMPLETE

The longer I live this life the more that I have found

how life is but a circle…and how we travel round…

Our circle begins as a thought… a simple wish…a hope…a sigh

a dream…a spark in our mom’s imagination…a twinkle in her eye.

For she begins our circle…our circle of life on Earth

through the beauty of creation…through the wonder of our birth.

This is part of her circle…part of her design

and this is where her circle and our circle intertwine.

Initially she helps to guide us as each new morning dawns

providing comfort, compassion and love…as our circle’s being drawn .

But there comes a time in every life…a time every mom must know

when it’s time to separate the circles…time to let us go.

For part of drawing her circle is knowing once we’re grown…

she has provided us the strength and independence…to draw circles of our own.

This is how it is supposed to be…our circles are meant to intertwine.

It is part of the natural order…part of the grand design.

We are meant to share moments, memories, children, grandchildren…

laughter, joy and tears…

food and fun, and comedy and tragedy through all the coming years.

Until there comes a time when our mom needs us…when her journey slows

when she looks to us for guidance…knowing her circle’s about to close.

And we’re happy now to comfort her…as she finds her way up to the stars.

Happy to guide her journey tenderly…as she once guided ours

Until the day we say goodbye…knowing we’ve been blessed by a life so sweet

feeling at the same time sad but happy…her circle is complete.

WHEN WE SEE A BABY SMILE

What is it about a baby’s smile?  

What’s in that smile we see?

Beauty, innocence, acceptance, compassion…purity?

Do we see comfort, pleasure satisfaction, peace and harmony…

happiness, beatitude…delight…serenity?

Or is that baby’s smile to us…a little more than what it seems?

Perhaps we see a shadow of our hopes…a reflection of our dreams?

Perhaps we realize a baby’s smile is a gift to remind us who we were

when we were young, excited, wide-eyed…

when we were innocent and pure.

A baby’s smile reminds us…we don’t have to look too far

to see not only who we were…but also who we are.

And if we have forgotten who we are…

perhaps in that baby’s smile we can see

not only who we were…

but who we are…

and who we’re meant to be.