Granby Drummer (https://granbydrummer.com/category/the-arts/verse/)
I think back in my memories to my first Christmas as a wife and young mother. Our income was just above the poverty level (by ten dollars), but we were blessed by the church with a big turkey with all the trimmings, and a basket full of canned goods and basic staples to last quite a while.
The fields were harvested. The pumpkin pies have been baked, and in the oven, the turkey roasts to a crisp, golden brown.
Too soon the summer has left us —
In the gardens, the flowers have produced their seeds.
It came so suddenly—the closing of colleges, schools, houses of worship, and libraries, hairdressers and bank lobbies. Everything that was a normal part of daily living was no more.
As we are growing up, our fathers teach us many things and give us the love of their hearts. On Father’s Day we remember them and thank them for all the ways they have made us who we are today.
Looking like the heads of lollipop sticks, or puffs of dandelion fluff, the tops of the tall trees reach
Their wings and bodies drenched with cold, winter rain, my friends, the blue jays, patiently perch in the trees by the house by my back door.
We always bought our Christmas tree a few days before Christmas and brought it in and decorated it on Christmas Eve. My father and I used all blue lights, balls of red, green, silver, blue, and gold, metal icicles, some special glass balls, and silver tinsel.
Thank you Heavenly Father for the bountiful harvest. Thank you for the family and friends who gather around our tables. Thank you for the happy memories of all who once graced this day.Thank you for the newborn babies, for they are our future.Thank you for the elderly who by their wisdom have much to teach us.Thank you for the beauty of the world you have created.Thank you, especially, for the flowers and the songs of birds.We remember in our prayers all who are in need.We welcome the stranger, for in doing so, we welcome you.May this day be one of true thanksgiving for our Blessings. And, may we be always mindful of the concerns of others.Amen. Bernadette Gentry, 2019