Salty like hot dogs (and tears). Sweet like marmalade (and life).
There once was a baby who saw
A face looking at him from a wall
He reached out to touch it
But he could not budge it
[can you finish this limerick for me?]
This is my mother and my oldest brother. She seems quite tickled by his fascination with the mirror.
Once a father and son shared some laughter
Tired mom thought, “That’s what I’m after!”
Giggles and joy
Twixt Dad and his boy
[can you finish my limerick for me?]
This is a picture of my father and my oldest brother taken probably in 1955.
There once was a girl with a kitty
A stuffed animal — but isn’t it pretty?
In her dress trimmed with lace
And her serious face
[how would you finish this limerick?]
This is a picture of my mother that I found this past weekend. Isn’t she adorable?
From the time I was young, I had trouble waiting
Always-late-people? So irritating!
Delayed planes and buses — very frustrating
I wished I could be easygoing!
Yes, I was impatient — but wanted to change
So I started to pray (does that sound somewhat strange?)
I thought that I knew what God could/would arrange
Truth is — I asked without knowing
Well, God sent me teachers — one at a time
For a total of eight — tiny, helpless, sublime
This slow learner experienced shift paradigm
While all of my children were growing
Sereneness is seeing the blue of the sky
Feeling the sun, watching bees fly
Being in moments ‘stead of letting them by
Not going faster, but slowing
So I learned to slow down from my children eight
Little knowing, indeed, what was my next fate
Aging parents, dementia, at the next gate
No regrets — just love overflowing
For eight I witnessed their very first day
For two I was present as they passed away
Each one a miracle in its own way
Listen — do you hear the wind blowing?
This is my response to this week’s W3 challenge.
Poet of the Week, Nigel Byng, challenged us to “Write a paean about a moment of personal triumph. This can be something from your past, something you are currently experiencing, or something you envision for your future. The moment should feel meaningful—something that changed you, clarified something essential, or marked a quiet or dramatic victory.”
There once was a boy and an ocean
When they first met, what emotion!
Joy and delight!
Giggles! (Some fright)
[how would you finish this limerick?]
This is a photo of my oldest brother and (I think) my aunt. I’m guessing it’s Ocean Grove, New Jersey, but I could be wrong. I just know that my father and his family used to go there. They nicknamed it Ocean Grave, I think because there were a lot of older people there.
Bear in mind, all of this could be totally wrong.
The expression on my brother’s face, though, is undeniable joy.
I was reading this morning from William Willimon’s book Accidental Preacher — a self-illustrated memoir — and came across this little sketch:
He had based his sketch on a photo. Here’s what he said,
I love that photo’s depiction of one of the great joys of aging — leading a little one toward the grand adventure of the wide world, gripping his hand reassuringly, egging him on to face into the wind and leap the waves.
But yesterday, when I looked at that picture of the two of us — the little boy and the old man — it occurred to me that I had misread that moment. I, who always thought that I was leading the child, saw that I was being led…
He was all future; I was now mostly past. In truth, the little one, still fresh in the world, had me by the hand, encouraging me to make my way into the deep…
There once was a man named Irwin
Fort Riley named their hospital for him
A good man, I would say
Building’s still there today
[can you finish my limerick for me?]
I’ll be honest. I have zero recollection of our family’s time in Ft. Riley, Kansas.
This photo was taken 8-9 months AFTER that move.
I was 6 weeks old when we moved from Ft. Knox to Ft. Riley. My father had gone on ahead and my mother had essentially done the move by herself.
Of course, I had no idea about any of that until 50 years later. I had asked my mother many times about what I was like as a baby. She had always dodged the question — which made me think I must have been a fussy baby. One day, though, she said, “That was a terrible time,” and she went on to talk a little bit about that move.
I think the military does stuff like that — insensitive to the service-person’s family. They’re getting better though. I’ve followed this story: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c98kn1k3nreo about a young wife arrested and taken from her new husband when he was trying to get her settled in base housing. She had come into the country illegally when she was 22 months old and had been working through the paperwork.
Clearly NOT the “worst of the worst.”
After being taken away in handcuffs and held five days in a detention center, she was released. She has been fitted with an ankle monitor and told to report to ICE every week.
I’m proud that my father served in the military. I’m not always proud of what our country is doing today and think it would be a hard time to serve.
There was a red Radio Flyer of hay
On a hot sunny summery day
We loaded the wagon
And then started draggin’
[how would you finish this limerick?]
Next door to our property was a dairy farmer who cut, baled, and hauled away the hay. We “helped.”
A few years ago I did the A-to-Z Challenge using collages I had made alongside unfinished limericks. I especially enjoyed the unfinished limerick part. It was very audience-participation-ish.
This year I thought I would try using old photographs and unfinished limericks. Can you finish this limerick?
There once was a girl dressed in gauze
Not a mummy! But a white dress it was –
With shawl and a smile
Ethiopian-style
[Can you finish my limerick?]
This is my sister, looking quite lovely in her dress and shawl. The style was definitely Ethiopian. The fabric is very gauzy, with multiple layers of fabric. The dress itself is lined.
This is Gazachen, our housemaid, dressed in the shawl and white gauzy dress, and me, not to be trusted in a white dress.
Okay, yes — I had a dress, too. Did I pose well for photos? No.
This is my oldest daughter wearing my old dress. (And one of her brothers photo-bombing)
I still have all these dresses. What to do with them?!?
A few years ago I did the A-to-Z Challenge using collages I had made alongside unfinished limericks. I especially enjoyed the unfinished limerick part. It was very audience-participation-ish.
This year I thought I would try using old photographs and unfinished limericks. Can you finish this limerick?
There once was a family who flew
‘Cross the ocean in 1962!
Six cities, 40+ hours
Bet they needed showers!
[how would you finish this limerick?]
From my father’s journal:
“On 10 December we arrived via TWA and EAL at Asmara (Eritrea) Ethiopia to begin a 2 1/2 year tour at this post — KAGNEW STATION. Having left Idlewild at 1930 hrs on 8 Dec by TWA jet we flew to Paris, Rome, Athens, and finally Cairo arriving there at 1745 hrs on 9 Dec. EAL was delayed at Frankfort so we spent a total of 14 hrs in Cairo divided between the Nile Hilton and finally the Cleopatra Arms. Because of our exhausted state and a rather slow dinner we were unable to visit the pyramids by moonlight as we’d hoped. The children travelled well but were completely exhausted by the time we arrived in Asmara at approx 1300 hrs on 10 Dec …”
I had to look up what Idlewild was. Today we call is JFK.
A few years ago I did the A-to-Z Challenge using collages I had made alongside unfinished limericks. I especially enjoyed the unfinished limerick part. It was very audience-participation-ish.
This year I thought I would try using old photographs and unfinished limericks. Can you finish this limerick?
There once was a man in Ethiopia
(Where the roads resembled twisted rope-ia)
He drove a VW Bug
With family quite snug
[how would you finish my limerick?]
In an undated journal entry — sometime early January 1963 — my father wrote, “We’ve purchased a 1959 VW sedan with under 15,000 miles from L. N. for $800. This is an ideal car for this area.”
I remember riding in that car. I think there were times when we also had another adult in the car with us, a native Ethiopian woman who helped my mother with us — so 7 people in a VW on windy narrow roads! Crazy, right?
A few years ago I did the A-to-Z Challenge using collages I had made alongside unfinished limericks. I especially enjoyed the unfinished limerick part. It was very audience-participation-ish.
This year I thought I would try using old photographs and unfinished limericks. Can you finish this limerick?
Hot Dogs and Marmalade 