Larry L. Graeber........Memorial Address
August 28,1938 - September 3,2012
Delivered
September 25,2012
At
Michael Mondavi Family Estate
Napa, California
I was born and reared in the rolling hills of Southern Illinois. In 1956, after a four-year stint with the Marine Corps I decided to settle in San Francisco. Come the last week of next month, I will have lived in California fifty-six years. Outside my immediate family, the majority of my relatives are still concentrated in Mid-Western States.
I visit them from time to time. Not as often as I should. Still I think of them frequently, and miss them dearly. Those reflective moments always lead me back to those magnificent days of my childhood, where the whole world it seemed knew me simply as the roly poly little boy named Jimmy.
Much has happened since those days of yesteryear. During the intervening decades, death has laid claim to family. My maternal Grandfather, both my parents, and five of my siblings. Faith leads me to believe a spiritual rebirth awaits, and that one day in that sacred future we will all be re-united...bound together...forever. And through that faith I've come to appreciate that death and dying is a necessary passage through which we all must travel. There is reassurance in the realization that death is merely a finality of the body, but not of the spirit. And in that fashion the dead are destined to live on in the memory, ever closer than before. Within that glorious significance dwells the continuum of life itself. For in that divining moment perception does in fact become reality. One afternoon while exploring, and appreciating the depth of this poignant revelation, I was moved in a fit of anguish to compose the following poem: 'Reality says they've passed away...Is not perception reality..for I feel a living presence...as though they stand...right next to me. Those guiding hands...of long ago...so firm against my brow...as strong, yet gentle...as yesterday...is the warmth...that I know now. That legacy of the distant past...still a mighty roar...memories sustain my soul...and on whose wings I soar...reality says they've passed away...silenced in death and then...perception says they're just as close...and real as way back when.'
I was 21 years Robert Mondavi's driver. A time that brought me intense satisfaction, for I found within the Company an extraordinary sense of family. That association with Mr. Mondavi afforded me the opportunity to meet and greet...getting to know, and becoming friends with scores of folks where otherwise life would have simply passed them by.
As the keeper of the Company Limousine, I was assigned on rare occasions the task of driving varied members of senior staff. It was during one such engagement that I met Larry. From time to time I'd chat with him at the office, or maybe during the random encounter somewhere along the street. I learned to appreciate his radiant sense of life, his wit and intellect, his pride of work, and hearing him speak longingly of avid love of family.
A couple weeks ago Anna informed me of Larry's passing. I messaged her back, offering condolences, and shared this personal story...that excluding family, few folks have ever called me Jimmy. Larry was among the few. Not once asking my permission, it was Jimmy from the moment we first met. And from that day forward, the mere sight of Larry approaching, brought with it an intoxicating sense of pure invigorating joy. That very presence returning me ever nearer.....to home.
poem by James B. Earley
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Related quotes
When I Discovered My Given Name
When I discovered my given name 'is' Lawrence...
(Named after my father.
Who on 'his' birth certificate says Lawrence 'A'.
And I'm suppose to be a junior with no 'A' attached.
Go figure!)
...and not 'Larry' as I am still called by family members,
And very close friends.
People who 'knew' me became upset,
When I began calling myself 'Lawrence'.
Saying I thought I was better than the others.
And that I was not 'real' OR down-to-Earth!
'Does this sound a bit crazed?
I wanted to call myself by my 'real' name...
And folks who didn't have my name,
Became upset!
Pure insanity...
Isn't it? '
There's more...
But my parents did not name me Larry.
They named me Lawrence.
And my father everyone called Lawrence...
Decided he was going to be called 'Larry'.
I'm not going to say he was a jealous man.
That's a different story!
And I decided to become as REAL as possible!
Even adopting an African name, Suhuba...
Of the Yoruban language.
Meaning 'laurel' or of the Sun.
And 'that' made some folks furious.
Family members became outraged...
Because I sought 'identity'.
And I was accused of wanting to be 'white'.
These are the same folks who call for unity of all kinds!
But they don't know 'who' they are to unify.
And 'why' or for what!
That's how ignorant some environments,
And the people can be!
Divided into segments of conditioned realities.
God bless 'em!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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0009 Favorite Poem
and you can’t remember much
about the first time you read it except
that it held you to the end, but most of all
this one line, which seemed to hold
the key to the whole poem
as if you were opening the closet of your mind
to bring out something which you knew was there
but instead something way at the back
called to you and you remembered
a moment from way back you thought
you had forgotten
and then you read the poem again
in company with the poet and
yes that’s it, and the two of you
became friends for life, almost
related.
So, now you’ve read all their poems,
feel some more than others but
as if you wrote them all in the same room
where you read them together
and you wait for their new book with
a sorta family pride
and like family,
you leave the poems for a spell,
grow up a little, then
come back to visit -
they mean more;
can it be,
you've both grown?
each time you come back to them
you carry them more close to you
in fact you feel that you could write
poems very much like theirs
as if you’d inherited, too,
the family gift
and though you wouldn’t of course
seek them out in person except
in a reading where you’d
have to share their warmth
with the rest of their extended family
but not say much since
you are a, well, close relative,
if you happened to be driving a route
not far from them, you’d detour,
park a little distance from their house,
but have it in your sight,
hope you might catch a movement,
wait a few minutes, then
start the car with almost a sigh
half relieved that you didn’t have to try
on their cautiously polite doorstep
to find words to say
you love them in their words,
which you almost wrote together,
lived them together;
love them like life itself,
love them
poem by Michael Shepherd
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Happy Birthday Daddy Larry
86 years old,
Today my Daddy Larry...
Would have celebrated on this day.
He and I had a unique relationship.
We weren't particularly close.
And yet,
A closeness existed.
He and I were so much alike.
But he never did scold me,
Since my mother Edna did that...
To keep my steps on a path walking right.
When I was young,
My daddy was called Lawrence.
I was then Larry junior...
With my own presence known.
Then when I became of age,
He wanted to be called 'Larry'.
And I thought, 'How could he do this to me?
Moving in to claim 'my' territory.
I became Lawrence 'S'...
Back in 1971.
And when I discovered on his birth certificate,
He was Lawrence 'A'?
I had not known that up until that day.
And AS I grew...
Knowing my daddy would soon pass away?
I told him I loved him.
And he looked at me as if to say,
'I wish I had more time! '
That was back in 1988,
Days before my Daddy Larry...
Would from us pass away.
And on this day, December 11th 2010...
I miss my daddy very much.
With a more understanding of him,
And who he was.
Feeling his presence is near.
And we are closer now than ever.
Just because...
That is the way it is!
Happy Birthday, Daddy Larry!
Dedicated to the memory:
Lawrence Pertillar, Senior...
My father.
'Miss you, daddy.'
Love,
Lawrence ('Larry') ...lol
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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More McCornack Family Memories
Looking through old photos
Of family members from the past
Sure do bring back memories
That will forever and ever last
Grandma with her great grandkids
A sweet smile upon her face
Puts me back to yesterday
So much history I can trace
For I see the house she lived in
When different events took place
There’s Grandpa enjoying family
He too has a smiling face
Oh look at my brother Robert
So young he was back then
So handsome and charming
With his shy and happy grin
Friends and family members
Are carved in a photo album
Old folks when we visited them
Always gave us so much wisdom
We can’t turn back the clocks
But albums are like treasuries
They are passed down forever
To share the family memories!
poem by Marilyn Lott
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Obon
Deceased spirits
Family’s ancestors
Vital part
Family life
Family tradition
How far dispersed
To gather at
Family home
The reunion
Affectionate moments
To spend with
Living family members
To honor memory
Of family who have passed on
To spend time
To spruce up graves
To guide the souls
Of the ancestors
Lantern are lit
In front of family homes
With fruits
And assorted foods
Set on a Buddhist altar
They are welcomed home
Upon rivers and streams
Touching and poetic launch
Of illuminated lanterns
To guide spirits back
poem by Ahmad Shiddiqi
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Family's End
I was born into a world were family is everything
When one is down, the others forget the world to help them out
Sharing cares, and sharing paryers around the table for a feast
Had me believe that's what that small word means
Now lately I don't know what to think
Of the changes this family seeks
I mean, I want us all to be happy forever
But that just seems impossiable with us all together
Now I know mama, you don't feel the same for dad
Dad I understand mama makes you mad
And ya'll are here just for us kids
Not as lovers, just as friends
We're the key to this family
And when we're off the lock there's nothing left to be
Our parents will be appreciated seperatlly
Cause thats what it takes for them to be happy
And all the stories we would say
All the games that we would play
All the memories
Got me in disbelief
I remember our trip to Disney World
You brought back the parents I had as a little girl
Were the peace was only for a moment
But thats enough to keep us going
I know we fight I know we bump heads
But we're a family in the end
I just don't to keep pretending
That I don't know it's time is ending
I know I say 'I hate you' sometimes
I know I used to wish you weren't alive
Mama wasn't your wife, that you weren't in my life
But now I'm happy you're here
And now I don't want you to go
The family we held I can't let go
Even though I used, now the thought just leaves me cold
This family has been through it all
The other siblings that don't know us at all
And they hate it when we call, but we're just trying to do the right thing
Trying to create the perfect family
When you see us you see smiles of grace
But thats not what's hidden behind our face
The world of joy we can't ignore
Thats why we put up with what we want more
But it seems like thats all it means
To be stressed about us kids theirs no time to be married
You're just human beings
Now our family's so confused
I never thought past my childhood that I put all my trust into
I thought together forever's all we will be
And now nothing's as it seems
I know when you had us you were young
It wasn't love you just were sprung
And now you realized we're moving on
so now it's you chance to claim you're done
And I just our family to stay
I don't want to accept our family change
We're everything seems to fade away
Like theres some sort of experation date
And I just want us to be happy
And not any of us to forget
Once we were an almost perfect family
But not everything goes as you wanted
poem by Sugar Bear
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Margrit's Words....Addressing Jim
Elegy to Mary Azevedo - June 2005
...Julie.....Carissa
Laureen and Kim
And Margrit's words
Addressing Jim
The day a dreary
..One...of June
Its moment...an even
....Greater...gloom
Of death...without
A doubt...expected
...Still..the mind
Outright rejected
The oddity...of
God's will to give
Then snatch away
That right to live
Much.....we fail
....To understand
Yet...clear...the role
Of the fellowman
....An intense glow
Amidst the gloom
...Soothed the soul
That day....in June
...When oxymoron
Lost its meaning
...As joyful sorrow's
Songs were singing
Of Julie....Carissa
...Laureen and Kim
And Margrit's words
..Addressing....Jim
Author's note:
The assignment; Pickup Margrit Mondavi at Robert Mondavi Winery, and drive to late afternoon appointment:
Arriving onsite some minutes ahead of scheduled departure, I reclined in the limo, seizing the moment to unwind a bit from the rigors of an earlier excursion into San Francisco. Alerted by distant voices, I looked up to see Mrs. Mondavi approaching accompanied by an entourage of four co-workers. Exiting the vehicle, I acknowleged their presence, and exchanged a bit of light banter with one of the group. 'Jim said Margrit, I have some bad news. Mary (Mary Azevedo, Robert Mondavi's Adminstrative Assistant) passed away this morning.' I recall closing my eyes, bitting my lip, struggling to maintain composure, sinking ever deeper into the widening abyss of excruciating grief. But just as quickly sensed an oxymoronic relief buoyed by the quintessential gift of friendship demonstrated in the personage of these compassionate folks who in their collective wisdom chose to stand with me in spiritual solidarity during the challenging experience they surmised would be one of my most difficult. Often I visit that overcast day, and still I see them all approaching, their presence ever more celestial than before. Some years ago, I composed the poem 'Margrit's Words Addressing Jim, ' as a note of appreciation, thanking these precious folks whose very existence helped transform a period of paralytic anguish into the luxurious grandeur of consummate bliss.
poem by James B. Earley
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My New Family
My new family I am starting to build
This is the biggest opportunity for me
I don’t want to die alone
I have seem too much loneliness
And too much sadness in my life
I had gone through it all alone
Not even the evil force can destroy me anymore
My new family soon I will have
I can say that now I am the luckiest woman in the world
Happiness found my way
And it is here to stay
I can’t wait for this moment to arrive that I will have my new family
That I can call my own
I hope my new family will be united
And that I can really love than more
I hope I can be closer and united with my new family
I won’t be lonely anymore
Because my new family will be here soon
And life without a new family is devastating to me
So when this happen I will put together a photo album of my new family
For every one to share
poem by Aldo Kraas
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Immigrant Man
Years pasted by us quick
Lost counting endless days and nights
The family I haven’t seen for years
Because Immigrant to another country
Challenging to survived work and living
No time to think no time to miss the family
Never thought of how much the family missed I
Forgive me I have not been home
For such a long time
But my heart has never left the family
And I have never taken my root away
I missed my country. I missed mostly my family
The family loving caring brought me up
Endlessly guide help and supports
Priceless ticket hearted joy going home
To see my beloved family
Which I haven’t seen for years
To celebrate with the family
This Chinese New Year 2008
Prosperity, Happy living healthy and peace
Miss the happiness time FOUR generations living together
In one house warmest loving and caring
The noise the cries none silences day or night
LOVE and HAPPILY in the heart
Love my root. Love my family
Loving from the bottom of our heart
Prosperity-Happy Chinese New Year
Arrived home 31/01/2008
Celebration Chinese New Year 07/02/2008
By Lee See Fee
poem by See Fee Lee
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My Life
I am not dead but still I miss
My loved ones, my family; the life I had
As I am dead in death amiss
Without my life, sorrowful and sad
My life is not the greatest nor a success
But a life it is and is what's truly mine
I pray to God for God to bless
My life, my friends, my family blood line
What I would do to live forever
And in youth with my life's joy
Live with my family, never to sever
From them as an eternal boy
My grandparents, my parents, my sisters, my brother
Always together, always with each other
My life, a life, worth living…..
poem by Kevin Michael Murphy
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Sunset Blues
It's been a long time
before i step to this land again
But tonight I'm home
Where each edge keeps history
Nightingale sing about night glory
I'm just lost by the voice
gentleness kill the noise
Slowly my eyes closed
but then i see you
Your smile never change
Appear in dream image
The photos on the wall
Revisit past, memories recall
Never forget how we riding a bike
I was afraid you said we got new brake
Child time such a pure snowflakes
My brother now our life separate
Time and space then show powers
Under this tree, witness of ours
Fighting for an ice cream
I'm crying and you gave to me
Said 'Please do not screaming'
Sometimes it went extreme
But now just a funny dream
All enclosed in this little frame
Hanging as the family wall of fame
I looked into your eyes
You looked unto me
We shared our dreams
Sometimes we share silent scream
You want to make a tall tower
I said i will watch you at this river
Big but something not seen
It's been a long time
To back this hometown
Yesterday i was around
Alarm makes night-dream harm
Waking up present left yesterday warm
I'm going, leaving home again
Bye...Our family waving hands
I just didn't see you
The bus is waiting but i searching for you
Take my seat i keep my next journey
But later, i see someone walking on the street
It's you and our eyes meet
Too late but capture memory cues
The same person i knew
My brother cool like a dew
One day we will talk a review
Till the time bring you to me
Or future separate thee
Thou, My brother is always you
: : : : : : : : : : : Theme: Memories: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :
Memories, past, childhood, farewell...part of this life
Ringing bell will be missed when a silence live....
Age of past build a strong base of future......
Time we passed for better future
it still cant change the moment we had together :)
It just a synthetic story with imaginary with family gallery
...................................... ..............................................
poem by Unwritten Soul
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Keeping email alive in touch
Keeping email alive in touch
A day gone by without your mail
I seem to be a year for me
Today I read your mail
Is full with gladness and happiness
Family and friends
Getting in touch
From around the world
I dream of the day, when we meet
Or again
In real from around the world
I will tell you, how much I love you
My family and your Friendship
When we do we spend all day long
Talking of this
Miracle email alive
Only we can make this happen
Because we been waiting for this moment
For a long time
I been waiting to meet you all
Or again
I miss you all
And to be my true friends
That you donâ? ? t know yet
When we meet each other
You agree my family and friends
When I read your mail
From the most beautiful family and friends
I have with you all
It is so pleasant to understand
I want you to know
You are the most loving
Family and friends
I want to feel your peasant
Completely our friendship
I truly love to have family and friends
Like you all
To all my beloved family and friends
Are important to me
Life in touch will never stop
Whatever weather
Keeping email alive in touch
The more successful is filled with common sense
poem by See Fee Lee
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Mail-Box
As you arrive in the morning
To your office, my dear
And check your mails
Without doubt you know
I’ll be there for you
Waiting to give you
The mail of the day.
May be a poem
Or a prose -
A quote or a photo
That touches me…
And I would wish to
Share with you.
Or as ever before
Like I write everyday
My Diary of yesterday.
You may read in a hurry
As you always do
For you may have
Many other
Errands to run to.
Yet, my dear
Let me say it to you
That all my letters
And words to you
Are written with care
And the precious time
That I love to spend
Writing to you…
It’s been like this
For the past many years
And I hope it would be
For many, many years
When you open your
Mail-Box
And find in it
Amongst all your mails
A letter from me.
Everyday, every morning
For all those years
Till the day you retire
From your daily
Commuting…
To that very same Office
Of your 20 years.
And the day you retire
After your service
Of two decades more
You’ll have some nice
Memories
Of working together
With your colleagues
Many sour ones too
Of those meetings
That failed
Those deadlines
That derailed
And some good savings
Of your life of work
And a repertoire of friends
That stayed with you
Through all these years…
May be in one of those
Bitter-sweet memories
You might remember me
That mail-box girl
Who used to write to you
So very diligently
Every day of her life
To feel close to you
To be as near you
As much as she could
From many miles away
With a lonely, longing heart
And so many words to say.
For she couldn’t be your wife,
Neither your mistress
Nor be at your side
As you struggled and you hobbled
Through your life’s major strifes.
She could only be
A mute witness -
To all what you endured.
She could feel the stresses
And the strains
Of those sleepless nights
That eating outside
Those early morning wake-ups
Of your tours and travels
Like a vagabond
Trying to balance it out
Between work and home.
And they say: You are Married.
Married to your wife
Or your company, I guess.
For most of your time
Is taken away
By those tours
And your travels
Of a working life
Sans your wife
Beside you…
On many such nights
And busy days too
When you would rather
Be a husband to your wife
Than be a work-horse
All your Life.
And slog and slog and slog…
Thinking you are indispensable
For your company.
Yet that day would dawn on you
As it comes for every man
When he realises
That the company whom he
Worked for
Cared for more than his family
That very same company
To survive and thrive
In this world of the Fittest
Goes seeking young-blood
And leaves you aside.
And at the end of the day
You then do realise
Was it really worth
Giving those extra hours
Everyday
To your office over-time
And missing out on
Your wife’s
Diary for the Day
Or all what your son
Had to Say
To a Daddy-Dear
He could hardly get to see.
As a friend of yours,
A well-wisher too
And in this one of my
Many mails
That I write everyday
To you…
I would suggest you:
Take care of your wife
Be with your son
For these are the days
You would miss very often
When you grow old
And look back
In retrospection
And find that those
Glorious days you spent
Upgrading your career
Position and status
In the Office.
Those will go one day
And someone else
Would take your place
And the company would
Still survive without you
As it has done
With people coming and going
In all such big MNCs
Yet once your wife
Grows old
And your son grows up too,
You’ll miss these “good old” days
When you missed seeing your son
Growing up
Into the young lad
He would become one day.
And your wife would also feel
As If -
She has grown too old, too soon
For neither youth was on her side
Nor the time
She wished to cherish
With you, in her conjugal life.
So her youth and her time
Both awaited you
As the hope of life
Awaits a dying woman
On her Death-Bed.
As for me, My Love
I’ve never had the Fate
To live with you
And would probably never have
The Destiny
To share with you
My Life.
And yet, the woman out there
Your betrothed wife
Is a woman like me
And your son out there
Is also like the son
I’ve borne in me…
So, I would always love you
To have a happy family
Take care of them, my love
And be with them
As often as you can.
For a job may come,
A job may go…
Yet a wife once lost
Or a son gone forever
Won’t come back to you
However much you repent
Or regret
Later on…
Thinking of the Whys and Hows
Of the jobs that you did
The tours and the travels
And the over-time
Your company Fixed
For you.
Always Remember…
You are married to your wife
And not to your company.
And your son needs
The “Daddy-Dear” in you
Even if he may not tell you
Often, every day.
So Care, Share
And Be There
For Them…
Trust Me – You’ll get many more returns
And far more contentment
As you look back
Over the years…
Of all those precious moments
You spent with your family
Than going for power, position
Fame and money
And being a lap-dog to your Company
By running after them.
poem by Aparna Chatterjee
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I'm not a company man.
Ghazal format
Some men strive hard chasing success
Whilst other men are content with less.
It all depends I must suppose.
On whom they're trying to impress.
I value self sufficiency
And use my time efficiently.
I choose to please myself.
There is no reason I can see.
For me to use my energy
Concentrating constantly.
Pursuing riches I don't need.
It simply makes no sense to me.
I understand that some will choose
To store up wealth they cannot use,
But that does not apply to me.
Because I know I can refuse.
To work for sixteen hours a day
I live my life a different way.
The company does not own me.
Though I work hard to earn my pay.
I spend time with my family.
Which I regard importantly.
There is much more to life than work.
I can state quite confidently.
I am contented with my lot.
I need no more than what I've got.
That is what success means to me.
My family first no matter what.
Wednesday,26 September 2012
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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Death
Today I hear
my cousin dead
of cancer...
she was a little darling
to me and the family
but dead
now
I think of my death
like I did
back in 1998
if it's going to approach me
sooner or later
My old friend is dead
of liver cancer
people are dying around us
where would they go
after they die?
This was the most important question
that I have had since young
looking at the tombs on the mount slopes
I kept crying all evening and the night through
the fear of death took me over
and wouldn't let go of me
so every evening when the sun went down
I began crying
in fear of darkness
which meant no light
utter gloomy pitchy dark nights
that haunted me since young age
but now my friends are dying away
family members are leaving me
only to ponder on death
this night
some say death arrives in everybody's door
but not me
for I didn't know where I would be going
when I die
and there came Jesus the Savior
who proclaimed life eternal
the life after death
so I am rescued from this hell-bound
direction to go down to the dark grave
alone with no body to keep company for me
then I am a Christian and have life eternal
but still I fear death
like I did when I was a young kid
crying every evening after the sun went down
now I fear death approaching me
and I feel weary after a long
life journey I took
over the years
with no children to care for me
no husband to look after me
I see grey hair keep showing up and
hear people say,
'Why don't you dye your hair? '
Yes that was exactly how I felt
in 1998 when I was 39
and now I go back to that time
and ponder on this subject death.
If I die what will happen to all
that I might not know
but would like to stay around a bit
longer to see life events of the world
but people keep dying and disappearing
from this planet...
now I might have to prepare for that
too, in case I face death
suddenly it arrives
and kisses you sweet and
takes you away from this planet
then....What would you do
Maybe end up in heaven with Christ around
or end up in hell burning in sulfur fire
no matter what I say or do
death approaches gradually and
takes you by the hand and leads you
to its own destination
Should we go along with it
or should we fight against it
and strive to survive a bit longer
Only if I had a companion
he would be able to make things better
to rejoice over life and living
This man in my life who showed up
and transformed me completely
is still staying around me
showing off his charms and scents
I wish he is the new candle light
that will rekindle my doomed destiny
Now that People are dying away
and I also am preparing for my last day
and this new dawn brightens up my life
so it's God's grace to shine upon my life
by sending this little angelic hand
to assist me to live and love again
God bless his soul!
I figure he will stay around for quite a while
which is a great news
at this time of my life
for me
Thank God for looking over my life
and me
as always...
You have been a great Help.
02: 56 AM
(November 16,2012) Korea-Japan time
poem by Sangnam Nam
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Family First
Friends may come and friends may go
Family is first and this I know
Putting friends first is a mistake
And not one that you should make
Family’s forever and this I know
Friends enter your life and then they go
Making friends is fun trust me with this
But not something you would miss
Love your family while they are here
Keep their love very near
Family can leave the world at any time
So don’t make yourself feel like slime
Family is here to comfort you
I know your friends do this too
Without your family you would be lost
Hold on to them no matter the cost
poem by Bonnie B Long
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Sheltered Memories
I did some traveling
A few years ago
I wanted to meet family
That I really didn’t know
Some lived in the same
Family home for years
Full of precious memories
From happiness to tears
I listened to stories
These folks had to tell
Treasured sweet memories
I saw my notebook swell
For these were the stories
That needed to pass
Down through generations
So questions were asked
I saw how they lived
A different life from mine
Heard tales of today
Many from another time
I smile as I see photos
Of family from the past
Photos shelter memories
That will forever last!
poem by Marilyn Lott
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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A Journey in Life
Remember when. At an age so young,
When life was in the future,
And all your worries seemed so intent,
And disappointments flowed from a parents tongue
When your future only began at an age,
When you were allowed to drive a car,
Or date that someone older than you,
And you felt enclosed in a parent’s cage.
Then as you grew and your body matured,
Your future rushed in, with a sense of reality,
Where to go and what to do,
To give your life meaning, with a future assured,
Still to young to fully understand,
A parent’s wish, that you might become,
More successful in life and the path you choose,
To be better than theirs, that’s all they demand
Yet, as you age, with choices made,
Forks in the road, don’t always lead,
To the end result, and the goals intended,
For some forks are not, as they were portrayed.
Then as you grow, and time has passed,
With a family of your own with children to share
The experiences in life and the paths you took,
To guide them forward, with knowledge amassed
Just never, forget, you were once there,
At an age in life, when all was good,
And through out the years, with the passing of time,
You now understand why your parents were not fair.
poem by B.J. Ayers
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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One Day We'll Meet Again
How is life in heaven Ma,
We trust you're doing well,
Back again with your Mum and Dad,
We hope you're feeling swell.
How are all your family Ma,
We pray they're doing fine,
Back together as a family,
I bet that makes you shine.
Is it really true that life is bliss,
When you find your place with God,
What was it like when you met him,
Did you make him feel overawed?
What's life like in Paradise Ma,
Is it beautiful every day,
Does happiness and peace abound
Is it really what they say.
We hope there is a ballroom Ma,
Where you can sing and dance,
Frank Sinatra with his big band sound,
Your spirit that will enhance.
Your sons and their families are doing well,
No need for you to fret,
We'll meet up again when God decides,
It's time that we all met.
It can be lonely here without you Ma,
We miss you all the time,
Memories of you keep us going though,
They truly are sublime.
We knew you weren't feeling well
It was a secret that you kept,
But that was just the way with you,
When you passed your family wept.
If there is any consolation Ma,
It's that you are now at peace,
We knew that when you left us,
Your Earthly pain would cease.
The fact you are in Heaven now,
Does help to ease our pain,
We also have the knowledge that,
‘' One Day We'll Meet Again ''
Her Blessings At Death (story)
(STORY) (5/22/12)
She was laying in her hospice bed
She knew in a short time she would be dead
She had no fear of death you see
She waited for it patiently.
She knew she lived a good long life
She was a daughter, a sister, a mother, a wife.
Regrets- she knew she had none
GOD had blessed her with a wonderful son
A faith so strong in GOD above
And she showered family and friends with tenderness and love.
She was loved by everyone around
In her spirit and heart true love they found.
The most gentlest person you'd ever want to meet
Knowing her was such a treat.
When she went for her physical that year
The doctors found what they feared
A cancer cell growing so rapidly
It was something they did not foresee.
She showed no signs as many do
But they knew her life was through.
Her family was with her 24/7
They knew soon she'd be in heaven.
The hospital corridors were filled with people
And bells were ringing from all the steeples.
She was not a woman of fortune and fame
And of nothing in her life did she feel ashamed.
Just a loving heart so pure and true
That she shared it with everyone she knew.
They say she died in her sleep, as everyone began to weep.
But before she died - she had told her son
"tell the world- LOVES JUST BEGUN'.
poem by Louis Rams
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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