JUDY'S POETRY

WE SHALL NOT CEASE TO BE

When I cease to be

And there are for me

No more bends in the road

No more grand adventures to come

I shall not cease to be

For me there is no end

I will live on

Forever and a day

In the happy dreams of my children

And the hopes of the ones I love.

For our children reflect the best in us

And pass it on down the line.

The dreams of our children live on in the lives

Of their children, you see

And that’s why I know each precious one

Has just a spark in them of me.

In Elliot’s lopsided grin and the twinkle in her eye—

When you see her merrily twirling round

I hope you will think of me.

For she is part of me and I of her.

In her I will live on.

Our Madeline, the lover of stories

Drowns in books and the tales that they tell.

Her mother passed that love on to her

But she got it from me,  as well.

The serious side of me I see in Davis

Her way of silently studying a thing just so

To understand how it must go

Though no gift in math I own

That’s hers and Gil’s alone

And one that inspires pure awe.

What about our sweet rambunctious Sam,

Who gives a squeeze and hug on the fly and then is off, posthaste?

What of me is in him?

The glint in his eye, his grin?

Somewhere in there

Is a hint of me and someday

It’ll come out.

You’ll see

And someone will say

That’s just the way of her

Isn’t that just like his JuJu!

Oh my many friends, can you not see?

We shall never cease to be!

For us there is no end.

We will live on

Forever and a day.

In the glorious dreams of our children

And the lives of the ones we love.    

LESSONS FROM MY DAUGHTER 1

Remember that great book by Robert Fulghum, "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten?" If you have never read it, do. It is on my top 20 list, which I will talk more about in later posts. But I digress.

The reason I brought it up is because I could write a book like that called "All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Jeny." Jeny is my daughter who lives in Atlanta with Gil and Davis and Elliot and Junie and Martin. Davis and Elliot are her girls. Junie and Martin are her dogs. Gil is her husband.

Jeny often says things with great conviction.  She analyzes situations; declares her stand on things firmly and has strong logic for her position.  For instance, she said she was never going to have dogs because they shed on the furniture; they aggravated, perhaps even caused allergies; they were dirty and I don't know what all else.

This year she changed her mind.  The family rescued Junie.  They liked her. Jeny gushed, like all new parents do. 

She placed pictures of Junie all over her facebook.  She sent pictures of Junie to the grandparents--almost as many as of Davis and Elliot.  Junie had a birthday party with all the neighborhood doggies as guests.  No, really.  There are pictures.

Junie needed a little friend and they have now rescued Martin.  He is as cute as Junie is.  He looks at least as much like a bunny as he does a dog.

I believe that they will live happily ever after.

The lesson I learned from Jeny here is that, truth be told, Ralph Waldo Emerson was right when he said  "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."  I love it when something I taught tenth graders in GREAT ESSAYS springs to life like that.

Jeny, you are so busted!