For Walker - Nov. 29, 1979

November 29, 1979



REMEMBER


When I gaze at our son,

many boys fill my sight

As the babe held aloft

on that warm, starry night

With wishes and deep love,

so gladly bought

Can't be gone! But lies on,

in the cradle of thought.

And the man yet to come

so strong and so tall

Will not dim my visions

of Walker yet small.

For it is quite certain

there's plenty of space

For boys of all ages

in my Memory's place.

Making Medical History

Our three-year-old son Sean was very much annoyed by his older siblings, who were always reminding him that this toy or that one had originally been theirs. Finally one afternoon he emerged happily from his room carrying a huge dump truck, saying, "I was born with this!"

Bald was beautiful, too...

August 11, 1984

Today I cried.
At the store, among the hair ribbons,
clips, barrettes and brushes,
I cried.
I was buying those things for you -
for the long hair I thought you'd never have,
When you were bald.

For...your first day of school.

March 27, 1969

After days of semi-frantic searching, last night I found the "Strawberries for Breakfast" journal this blog is named after...

Here's a poem I had included in the book...I wrote it when Winston and I were teens in high school;

Just Between You and Me

Five years from now, if all goes well
I'll be my true love's wife
And settled cozy, quite content
within a finer life
But will I mourn as many do
the ordeal that my hands
Must endure day after day
among the pots and pans?

Will baby's cry arouse in me
a weary sort of sigh?
Will I resent the steps I take
to see if he is dry?
And could I look upon this poem
if found among old things
As just a simple, idle bit
like pencil stubs and strings?

Lord, if these small and loving woes
can come to me some day,
I'll take great care to see that my
most grateful thanks don't stray.

Just the Brown Eyes

Back in the '80's in Maine Walker had an English class writing project - to describe the delights of enjoying a banana split. Took him alone with me to Friendly's which was a sort of sandwich diner/ice cream parlor establishment and somehow or other it was noted that Walker and I were both "firstborns" in our families. Laurel wanted to have a special connection to me as well, so it came naturally down to taking her to Friendly's as "just the girls". Then there was Sean. The baby - not the firstborn. Certainly not a girl. Finally it dawned on me - Sean was brown-eyed like me! So his trec to Friendly's with me was a "just the brown eyes" experiance!

Years later when I traveled to Dallas with Sean and his brown-eyed wife Stephanie and their brown-eyed baby girl Hattie, it was finally another "just the brown eyes" opportunity! Quite an exclusive little group, wouldn't you say?

Mary Ellen is due in August. Chances are she will be an honored member of the "just the brown eyes" group as well!

Baby epicurians

Our family enjoys fine dining at home. My brother-in-law could have been a chef. No kidding. Creme' Brulee, ....Seared Duck with Pears, you name it. I scramble when it's my turn to to do the big family after-church Sunday dinner, and Dan holds the bar high.

In the past week, two of our younger granddaughters, Hattie aged 21 months and Wendy aged 19 months have discovered their own epicurian delights.

While seated in the bathtub, Hattie was squirting water out of an empty shampoo bottle into her mouth! "Hattie", I asked, "what are you doing?"

"Drinking," she replied. "It's pretty good!"

Meanwhile in Washington state Wendy and her parents were invited to her father's boss' house for dinner. Wendy found the appetizer dish right away - a bowl of dry dog food on the kitchen floor. Before anyone could move she had sampled a handful. "Good Puffs!" she exclaimed.

Bath water. Dry dog food.

Dan, where did we go wrong?

Why Strawberries for Breakfast?

Sentimental reasons...very. Sentiment drives this blog, I am sure!

When my maternal grandparents married in Mississippi in 1906, a friend gave them the use of their house (I think in New Orleans) for a brief honeymoon sojourn. My grandmother said that on her first married morning a man was passing by the house calling out that he had strawberries for sale. Right away my besotted grandfather (who would become Papa to me 44 years later) dashed to the street to make his purchase. And the tenderest scene of all...he fed them to his bride one by one.

Loved that story and I do tend to cling to stories the way others hold on to whatever it is they store up as mind-treasures. So my first married morning when Winston insisted on calling room service, strawberries were my only request...

That first year I kept a journal in a blank bound book and had it embossed, "Strawberries for Breakfast" which I gave to him on our first anniversary.

To me, that title sums up the fact that life's simple joys are the most precious, and loving acts are worthy of remembrance for generations to come. So pardon me while I just remember on and on...