For today's prompt, write a living poem.
Today and every day is our
lifelong legacy in the making!
Let's make it treasure-able💝
This poem is about a Treasured Legacy I inherited
simply by being her granddaughter!!
Both of my gramma's birthdays were in April,
one on the 3rd, and one on the 13th!
(I hope a kind cousin or sibling corrects me if I got the dates confused...)
Today would be your birthday...
Caught by surprise...
I think if we would line up the stitches she sewed in her lifetime
they would reach to heaven and back
So many quilts and comforters for family and charity.
After her family was grown, so much mending
for her daughters and daughter-in-laws!
Her hands, when she was feeling well, were never idle!
My last 'family picture' of my grandparents.
She cared for our 'special Aunt' until she was no longer able
Then Special Aunt was welcomed into the homes of her siblings.
Today, would be your birthday
Dear Gramma, your legacy
Is the most treasured hand-me-down
That you have left for me
Life wasn’t always easy
Yet, your faithful un-complaint
Often made me wonder if you
Were a gram-disguised saint
Humble, frugal and generous
You treasured each grandchild (all forty-something of us!!)
And always made each one of us
Feel special when you smiled
Your sparkling eyes and helping hands
And wisdom-seasoned speech
Instilled within your precious ‘grands’
Sound truths for us to teach
Where now by time’s fleet sleight of hand
I am a gramma too
Trying to emulate the love-
-liness I learned from you
Trying to hand down memories
That, by God’s grace will be
In the heart of every grandchild
A treasured legacy
© Janet Martin
A few more Gramma mementos...
Waste not, want not
She said
as she shook the crumbs
from the bottom of a bread bag
for the birds
or her next casserole
placing the bag in a drawer for re-use
as she brought someone a freshly baked treat
Waste not, want not
She said
as she saved the yarn ends
to hang in trees
so the birds can have some color
in their nests too
Waste not, want not…
and rags were cut into strips
sewn together
and braided for mats (see picture above)
fabric scraps became comforters and quilts
for the needy
…or here and there perhaps a stuffed toy
Pie dough left-overs were scraped
from the counter-top and
put in a dish in the fridge
for next time
and seeds were collected from her garden
for next year
and empty spools were saved
for crafts and creations (see pictures above)
and she would tell me of their wedding
during the depression years
and how they had to choose
between either turnips or potatoes
for their meal
and how her aunt took a cherished vase
out of her china cupboard
and gave it to her
as a wedding gift
because there was no money
and then she would often repeat
‘He who does not value a penny
does not deserve a dollar’
She never heard
Reduce, reuse, and recycle
But she reminded me constantly
That no generation is immune
To hard times or want
As the root cellar was filled with
Preserves from her garden
I am glad to have known
This part of her
As I attempt to pass some of Grandma on
To the next generation
In waste not, want not
© Janet Martin
I am privileged to be living in the house
that belonged to one of the most beautiful people I ever knew;
my Grandma.
And then, a new song uploaded today by two artists I LOVE,
fitting perfectly with today's prompt
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