ESSENTIAL WORKERS

This week we celebrate teachers and nurses…two professions collectively

I can’t think of anything more appropriate than to thank them simultaneously.

For here we have two career paths whose roles are frequently reversed

as a nurse often becomes a teacher and a teacher is oftentimes a nurse.

Celebrating them together is brilliant…this is a fact we can’t deny

If you are still a little skeptical…let me tell you why.

Both know a smile can brighten another person’s day- it’s a lesson they have learned 

and both are more than happy to receive a smile in return.

They both know what it’s like to be important and how it feels to be needed.

They both know once they touch another person’s life…

then in life they have succeeded. 

They know when to be hard on us…and when they should be sweet.

Both are tired at the end of the day after spending hours on their feet.

They both have days when all goes well and their patients and children thrive…

and other days, when they feel lucky just to make it out alive. 

They remain calm in the face of adversity for no matter how loud we scream or shout…

they have seen and heard it all before…and we can never gross them out.

Through it all they never give up…they work, they toil…and they pray

for both believe that miracles await them every day.

So let’s not forget to thank them both…for no matter how you spin it

the life we live is a better life with nurses and teachers in it.

It seems we have finally learned who our essential workers are 

as this pandemic has encircled the Earth…

And now that we’ve identified them…

perhaps it’s time to pay them what they’re worth.

EVERY NOW AND THEN IS ENOUGH

She was sad not knowing where her mom’s mind was taking her

sad how sometimes she’d be lost to her a while…

but happy every now and then,…when she’d turn to her and smile.

for in those fleeting moments

moments of surprise 

she saw the glow return to her mother’s face

and the sparkle to her eyes…

And she would relish in those moments

savor every second when….

for even the briefest flash…

she was her mom again.

THE YOUNG DOG AND THE OLD DOG

A young dog met an old dog at a barbecue one day

The young dog licked the old dog’s face and together they did play.

The young dog every now and then wanted to play a little fetch…

She made that old dog throw things…she made that old dog stretch.

The young dog jumped and bounced and ran all over the yard…

The old dog can’t remember the last time he played or laughed so hard.

As the young dog made the old dog do things he’d forgotten how to do

the old dog couldn’t believe how fast time with the young dog flew.

It’s funny how the young dog 

in between all that playing…all those licks…

did something we thought impossible…

she taught that old dog some new tricks.

CATCH THE WIND

She tried to lasso her daughter’s energy

then paused, shook her head and grinned…

for she knew trying to capture her spirit

would be like trying to catch the wind.

It was at that moment she saw 

what many a mother sees

that you don’t always have to catch the wind

to be able to enjoy the breeze.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN ANGELS

“Mommy, do you believe in angels?” Her daughter asked one night as her mother tucked her into bed.

Her mother smiled, then sat down next to her…”I do believe”, she said.

“I believe in angels you can see…and even those you can’t. 

I believe angels are here to protect us…I believe angels can enchant.

I believe angels are sent down to us from somewhere up above.

I believe they have one purpose…and that’s to love, to love…to love.

I believe angles are easy to recognize…you’ll know them at first sight

for though they often try to hide their wings they cannot conceal their light.

Angels are the ones who stop, who smile, who listen, who lend a hand, who share

I believe once you start looking for them…you’ll see angels everywhere. 

And I believe when we need them most that’s when angels will astound us

because it’s in those moments whether we see them or not…we feel their wings around us.

I believe an angel came to me…although it’s been a little while now

who helped me believe in miracles when I’d forgotten how.

Yes, I believe in angels…I believe there’s one here now…

and I believe she’s you…”

“Count again.” her daughter said before descending into sleep …

because I believe there’s two.

BEHIND A WINDOW MADE OF GLASS

It is said life is one big circle which begins with our first breath

the circle then completes itself the moment of our death

Many of us begin our circle…when but a little time has passed

in a hospital…protected…behind a window made of glass.

It’s where our friends and relatives first visit us…

They come from near and far..it’s funny how they already know us

before we discover who they are.

In all likelihood we never noticed them…those who stop or wave or pass

Never noticed who was standing behind that window made of glass….

There are many in this pandemic…in whose circle much time has passed

who find themselves once again protected…behind a window made of glass.

Only now when their friends and relatives come to visit…

when they come from far and wide…

the person behind the window knows who’s on the other side.

And there is a sadness mixed with happiness to these moments…

Happy they can be together…happy to be seen

but sad the only way to touch each other is with a window in between…

Still reflected in the window…we can see their smiles shine…

Happy at least to have found a way…for their circles to intertwine.

And so we hope and pray for them

Hope and pray this pandemic will soon pass….

and they don’t end their lives as they began them…

behind a window made of glass.

GRATITUDE

Each morning when I wake up I give thanks for all the big things in my life

My friends, my family, my children, my grandchildren and my wife

I give thanks I have enough clothes to keep me warm and food to keep me fed

that I have a house…a car…and at night…a comfortable place to lay my head.

When I take a walk I give thanks for all the big things that I see…

The sun, the moon, the ocean…every cloud and every tree.

And I never forget to thank the Earth for all that she is giving

from all the beauty she surrounds me with to the air that keeps me living.

When I’m finished thanking big things I start to thank the small things that catch my eye

A loving smile, a kind hearted wave…a bird…a butterfly.

A ladybug landing on my finger, the crickets making their nightly sound

A leaf that gently floats upon the wind as it flutters to the ground.

I spend my days and nights like this thanking things both big and small

And when my day is over I realize…I haven’t thanked them all.

But that does not discourage me…that I didn’t thank everything on my list

Because I know tomorrow I’ll have another chance to thank those things I missed.