Sometimes the ones we love the best
Are those who put us to the test
They try our patience or our purse
We’re never sure which is the worst.
We carry on with fingers crossed
And pray our purpose won’t be lost
No matter how hard it all seems
Rely on God to save our dreams !
These final words that I recall
“A happy time was had by all”
Too many conversations heard
Repeat the very selfsame words.
So blest are we remembering
The greater joy families bring,
The love and care that we receive
Help all once more in hope believe !
To those I’ve known and loved before
Whose memories my heart has stored
Here in the reaches of my mind
Midst joy and feeings ever kind,
Remember that I’ll miss you all
And pray the Lord is at your call
While angels spread their wings above
And bathe you in God’s constant love !
A little child did pray to God
“Please bring my daddy home to me
Without him here our lives are hard
He fought a war to set us free “.
This message went upon its way
Just hoping that none will forget
To send that daddy home to stay
Before their joy becomes regret !
There are these photos on the wall
Of folks I barely know at all
There’s a few I had never met
And others that I shan’t forget.
Familiar faces from the past
All precious images that last
As life once was, grateful to see
When all were young and used to be !
When I reflect o’er my lifespan
And try hard as I ever can
There are these things I greatly miss
The sweetness of my mother’s kiss,
The pleasure of my father’s smile
He made my life a world worthwhile,
The treasure of each tiny tot
Whose hugs and kisses meant a lot,
Such moments cannot be erased
Nor somehow get to be replaced.
I know all this is from the past
These memories I pray will last !
Sometimes I dream ’bout long ago
And all the joys we used to know,
I miss that world so very much
Too sad we couldn’t keep in touch.
Seems now as though I’m in the past
Perhaps one that’s surviving last
Oh how I wish that I might spend
A day or two among my friends.
Well I’m no fool, that is a fact
We cannot bring the old times back
And need to bargain for much less,
Let’s settle for a huge God bless !
I’ve grown through all these many years or so
It seems there’s really no place left to go
There’s no way yet to thrive in outer space
In truth it’s not a safe or happy place.
I’d rather be stuck in a cardboard box
Or forced to walk without both shoes and sox
Than sacrifice the pleasures that I’ve known
Among my family and friends at home.
At this stage of life I find I’m confined
By the strings of our love and joy combined
I believe that I’ll simply hang around
Until God’s solution at last is found !
In a garden long, long ago
In a special place I don’t know
Lived someone related to me
Long, long ago in history.
Perhaps one day we’ll get to meet
On a corner of heaven’s street
And if we can’t I will not mind
There will be others I shall find
For we are one huge family
And a part of that selfsame tree !
I know that God is everywhere
He hears my thoughts and every prayer
I am so glad He’s on my side
From start to finish, He’s my ride
How sweet it is for me to be
A part of His great family !
There’s a special place that I do recall
Quite a long time ago when I was small,
A large clapboard house on a country road
My great uncles built for their mom’s abode.
She’d been born in June eighteen-sixty-one
To a life one could guess was not much fun
At fifteen she married the stablehand
Oh, so far away in a foreign land.
This is a small part of their history
And the story of how they came to be,
As I look back on all the joys we shared
How grateful I am and how much I cared !
We’ve been good friends for many years
Through smiles and laughter, doubts and fears
We have been up, we have been down
Hugs and kisses, at times a frown
I’ve often thought what shall I do
Without a pal who’s just like you ?
It’s been so long that I’ve forgot
What life would be if you were not
And so today I want to state
That we are buddies soon or late
Whatever else may chance to be
I’m here for you when you need me !
I here the ticking of the clock
It speaks to me, “tick-tock, tick-tock”
The time is slow, for time is vast
As lives slip by, all image passed.
I see the pictures on each wall
The times we lost I’ve seen them all
How sad that we too soon grow old
And leave the safety of the fold !
When we were young we learned to share
Those early years taught one to care
For lives sometimes can be quite brief
Each bears some semblance to a leaf
That’s born upon the family tree
And tethered there for all to see.
While some may shrivel and grow sere
Still others flee from life severe
As those who cling to that last hope
Within the darkness try to grope
The time is soon, the need is clear
Take hold your roots and face your fear !
There is a place we all yearn to be
It’s not across some far-widened sea
Nor over hills or great mountainsides
And not where malice or anger hides.
It’s not under trees that reach for sky
Or where the eagles and buzzards fly
It’s just a place around the last bend
Of a lonesome road that seeks its end,
To that spot where most lives got their start
And have left behind their lonely heart !
Those images that I recall
So long ago when I was small
My father’s laugh, my mother’s smile
Sweet memories held by a child
The smells, the sounds that filled the air
The joyous times that we all shared.
Oh how grown up it was to be
Included in their company
Such love held fast both now and then
And glowed as I remember when !
My Pop he was my mother’s dad
In life he gave it all he had,
My Pop he was so ever sweet
He was a favorite on the street.
“Hey George” they’d call with hearty voice
“What’s new today, what is our choice ?”
He knew that they would come to eat
He’d nod his head and tap his feet.
He’d do a jig to make them smile
Still taking orders all the while,
He swept that sidewalk every morn
And worked that store from early dawn.
My Nana she came in at noon
It seemed that never was too soon
And after lunch was almost through
He made the bank by half-past two
He never was a minute late
And walked with happy spritely gait !
One little man in woolen cap
He’d head on home to take his nap.
When Nana died in sixty-two
We thought his storekeep time was through
It came as one complete surprise
He joined me in my enterprise !
In homage to my dear grandpa,
I know his grave’s not off too far
But going back won’t help at all
My memory is still enthralled
I was a girl of twenty-five
When grandpa he just up and died
With wrinkled face and gentle eyes
Too late for us to say goodbyes.
Who ever thought that I’d recall
Those yesteryears when I was small
When I was young I used to sit
On grandpa’s lap and rock a bit.
I can remember that old chair
It sat beside the fireplace there
Like some carved wooden rocking thing
With all the joy those mem’ries bring
And when my children were so small
That rocking chair could hold us all.
My grandpa built that rocking chair
With his own hands and love to spare
Now that was very long ago
The time has flown but this I know
All that I am or hoped to be
Are part of my heredity !
I’ve wandered in this distant place
And seen the fear that strangers face
I wondered how the human race
Could live and work midst such disgrace !
I can’t accept that they should be
Lost victims of indignity
To bear all this with family
And have no exit strategy !
Instead of blasting music loud
And sidewalk lounging in a crowd
Strive hard to make your children proud
Reach out to God, your faith avowed !
When I think about all the old tales that I’ve told
I remember my aunt with the heart of spun gold
As she and great grandma shared the same tiny bed
I’d often thought they should use a pull-out instead !
When the mail would arrive we sure got a big thrill
For each card that she sent held a five dollar bill
She wrote penny postcards to us all every week
No one had a home phone upon which we could speak.
That way we could know just how the family was
As we lacked the means to give each other a buzz
Well by now it’s too late and I’m left all alone
How I wish I could call them today on God’s phone !
I had a great aunt she was Olga by name
Her generous nature, the root of her fame
I was told she was born in May eighty-eight
Although it seems that no one knows the right date !
She had the same job for the whole of her life
Sadly she never became anyone’s wife
Though it was not because she had not found love
But the boy she admired was not approved of !
Her Rudy he worked as the baker downstairs
While she sold his bread from the counters up there
Her mama, she followed the old fashioned ways
Dictating to Olga for all of her days !
I know that lives were so different back then
I’m sorry that she died a childless woman
But she brought so much joy to all of us girls
What a blessing she was with her Marcel curls !
She bought us those gifts that no one could afford
Hats, coats and shoes from Mister Macy’s big store
And took us to places we only dreamed of
She filled all our cups with her unselfish love !
I’d love to be a child once more
And welcome daddy at the door
To laugh and smile and play some game
Or hear my mother call my name !
We’d spend an evening by the fire
Reading chapters meant to inspire
Our hearts to learn the proper ways
To love our Lord and render praise !
When I was young I fell in love
What was it I was thinking of
The curly hair, the handsome face
A trip to some romantic place !
Before I knew it children came
It made me grey and changed the game
We grew up fast it had to be
But oh such joy, a family !
The years rolled past now all are grown
Those children gone their seeds are sown
While old age creeps upon the stage
This empty nest is all the rage !
You’ve been my love since you were small
I’ve watched you grow to be quite tall
I’ve followed all your childhood dreams
Though some were silly now it seems.
But as you grew along the way
You didn’t hesitate to say
The thoughts you held close to your heart
I sensed that you were kind and smart.
The time has proved I was not wrong
You’ve turned out good and wise and strong
How glad am I that you and me
Are part of the same family !
A tiny child arrived today
He is too young to learn to play
We’ll have to wait a little while
Ere we discern his darling smile.
Sweet baby born so innocent
May fill our lives with true content
When sleepless nights that fade away
Bring greater joy from day to day !
Our love will grow and glow and flow
Into the future parents know
As God sees us in manner like
He is the Parent to each tyke !
When but a girl I lost my dad
I could not know the gift I had
I watched occasions pass me by
All those precious years time did fly.
Days that he didn’t hold my hand
When my achievements turned out grand
No one there to cushion my fall
And walks we never took at all,
Especially down that long aisle
When dad and daughter cry and smile,
And here am I at my trails end
Still missing him, my next best friend !
TODAY is one of those days, remarkable and reassuring, a day to renew my connection with American values! A day to believe that we can rise above the chaos of our declining society with unfailing faith in our humanity. I have spent a number of hours in the last few days in the company of what I found to be a cohesive family, gathering for a wedding. How comfortable to witness old fashioned affection ! It brought back memories of my childhood and those wonderful family togethers by the lake, by the beach, in the park. Doesn’t everyone recall one magic occasion ? What is the fascination with immediate gratification of all of our senses when we leave no opening for that spectacular surprise or chance occurrence. Where did we lose anticipation ? Oh, Santa will you become the next victim of expediency ? As a small child, Christmas Eve filled our home with varied relatives, there would be rapping on the front window, a jingling of sleigh bells on the porch and as the curtain was pulled aside, the sight of a jolly person in a red hat waving a big red sack ! It took a few years and a new home before I realised that it was my cuddly and chubby aunt in a homemade costume who came calling, I know, I know, Alice in Wonderland ! I believe HER family WAS dysfunctional ! But aren’t we all just a bit, who wants to be perfect ? Such a heavy burden to bear ! I found it delightful to wake up to a brief spate of normalcy these few days in the Sheraton on the Hudson. HAHA !! Sincerely, Claire B.
EXCUSE ME, but where do I register to vote ? My first official act upon returning to HOBOKEN in the 70’s was to sign the voting register. From that day to this I don’t believe that I have missed even the most insignificant election, if such a thing exists ! I have come to the conclusion that in a democracy there is nothing of insignificance about our freedom of choice. When we originally migrated to Hoboken I was referred to as a “New Yorker”, my knowledge of New York somewhat limited to Macy’s, the Museum of Natural History, South Street Seaport and Balducci’s ! A friend commented to me the other day “You’re beginning to sound like old Hoboken”. At last, ACCEPTANCE ! The remark was prompted by my observation that I had not seen a familiar face in a popular eatery the whole evening, I’m not sure that I enjoyed the feeling ! However I concluded I’d been cocooning since the last election, unable to decipher what changes would mean to me. I was going to miss the Old Guard just when I was beginning to agree with them ! Having spent too many years in suburbia, I had come to expect politics to be a quasi-part-time occupation indulged in by retired CEOs to perk up leisuretime. How little I knew ! Today I was being replaced by new blood and differing concepts, time to go with the flow. I still haven’t quite accepted the fact that Pollyanna has moved on ! Who would believe one could achieve anonymity in a one mile square area where everyone still stoop-sits ? Progress, as media are crying, “loss of privacy”. Excuse me but I need to put my name on my doorbell ! Sincerely, Claire B.
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Claire V. Bogdanos 