I think the best advice I received and could pass along
you have already published in a poem called, surprise,
"Advice."
You know how, after it rains,
my father told me one August afternoon
when I struggled with something
hurtful my best friend had said,
how worms come out and
crawl all over the sidewalk
and it stays a bib mess
a long time after it's over
if you step on them?
Leave them alone,
he went on to say,
after clearing his throat,
and when the rain stops,
they crawl back into the ground.
The women in my family were all housewives, with the exception of one nun. As a teen, I had no idea what to do with my life and there never was a discussion about it. I would go to college (it had been decided), but I had no idea why or how. When I failed the first year to get the hang of being away from home and all alone, my grandmother pulled me close to her face one day and said, "With your looks and your brain, make something of your life." Those words have always reminded me to remember that what I became was a product of my own shaping and sculpting and making! No one was going to come along and make something of me. I never thought my grandmother meant for me to limit myself to housewife, but to go beyond into something no one could foresee, something amazing and wonderful.
Inspiring! Wouldn't it be fine to have an Aunt Florie beside us urging us to be mindful of our treasures? Thank you.
I think the best advice I received and could pass along
you have already published in a poem called, surprise,
"Advice."
You know how, after it rains,
my father told me one August afternoon
when I struggled with something
hurtful my best friend had said,
how worms come out and
crawl all over the sidewalk
and it stays a bib mess
a long time after it's over
if you step on them?
Leave them alone,
he went on to say,
after clearing his throat,
and when the rain stops,
they crawl back into the ground.
Sound advice! Others may not always evaluate us justly. It's for us to know what we are worth; that's what matters, in the final analysis!
The women in my family were all housewives, with the exception of one nun. As a teen, I had no idea what to do with my life and there never was a discussion about it. I would go to college (it had been decided), but I had no idea why or how. When I failed the first year to get the hang of being away from home and all alone, my grandmother pulled me close to her face one day and said, "With your looks and your brain, make something of your life." Those words have always reminded me to remember that what I became was a product of my own shaping and sculpting and making! No one was going to come along and make something of me. I never thought my grandmother meant for me to limit myself to housewife, but to go beyond into something no one could foresee, something amazing and wonderful.