I wrote this poem as I thought about those first true warm spring days where the light, and sounds and scents all change and add such an excitement. And I am dreaming of those spring days now and that light, and the sounds and especially the scents. All are gone in winter….replaced by a different canopy.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about the Spring’s Song. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
I found this poem that I wrote a few years ago, in an old journal. It may have come about when I was trying to work out some of my family’s ancestry. I thought it would a great poem in honor of my my father’s family on this Father’s Day here in the U.S.
The top picture is of my father’s family in the early 1930s. He is pictured lower right and my Irish grandmother, Margaret, behind him. The other’s are my aunt (grandmother’s sister Esther), uncle (Fred, Esther’s husband) and cousins (Esther and Fred’s children, Myrtle and Fred). The bottom picture is from around 1901 and is my grandmother’s baby picture. We are discovering many old pictures of family we do not know or cannot recognize as the only one left now is my mother who has the accumulated history of her family and my father’s. It is sad to have lost these family stories with each relative who is gone now.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about Lost Stories. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
As I was contemplating recent readings, the term Wild Child came up and this poem poured forth. It is autobiographical, and it is a song to all of us who are working on our inner selves. I offer it to all who are called or feel like a ‘wild child’ as I move into my 61st year.
And yes those pictures are of me when I was about 8 or 9 years old. Both pictures hold very fond memories, as I loved to swim, and go fishing. That was the first big fish I caught, a lake perch.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about The Wild Child. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2018. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
I wrote this poem after meeting this amazing animal. He is a rescue cat that my nieces fell in love with. He is thought to be part Persian and has an abnormally long tail. A kitten when they brought him home, and 6 months old when I met him. He made quite an impression on me, wrapping his long tail around my heart. And this poem came leaping out of me on the trip home.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about Percy-He Watches. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2017. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
This poem is a remembrance for my Aunt Mary who passed away July 3rd. A dear friend said to me that dwelling on missing her would only bring sadness and depression….but celebrating her light would bring me solace and peace. I liked that idea and this poem came to me the next day. You can read my tribute post to my aunt here.
I am joining Poets Unitedfor their Poetry Pantry linkup. July 12th was my 3rd blog anniversary….what an amazing 3 years of creativity it has been.
The picture at the top is of my Aunt Mary with a few sweet peas, snapdragons and lavender. The vase below is more of these same sweet flowers.
I leave you with a another image about an extra-ordinary life. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2017. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
It is the second anniversary of my blog this week…and as I start year three, I thought I would branch out a little and Innovate (my word for the year)…new starts! And my first new start is participating in Poets United’s Midweek Motif. This week Sumana is giving us the prompt “absence“.
I have been kicking around the idea of a poem based on this wonderful quote….
“I could tell you my adventures—beginning from this morning,” said Alice a little timidly; “but it’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
I thought it would be interesting to look at the idea of going back with memories….being absent from these childhood times, can we really go back as the memories age and fade. I hope you enjoy my take on ‘absence‘. I used Zinnias, I grow in my garden, to illustrate the post, as they represent ‘Thinking of an absent friend’.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2016. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
I am bringing you another epistolary poem from a letter I wrote in April. This one is special, recalling my inspirational days of childhood. I have included pictures of native purple lupines which represent ‘Imagination‘.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog.
I leave you with a few additional words about Dear Imagination. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2016. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
“He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.”
~Clarence Budington Kelland
Reblogged, and edited from an earlier post on my other blog, Gardens Eye View.
Today my dad (Eugene J. Abel, Sr.; better known as Gene) would have been 82 87 years young. Born as the Great Depression was starting, to a mother who wanted a girl, in the city of Philadelphia, so began my dad’s life.
He was the second son of two children. His mom, who came from a poor Irish background, stayed at home although I think she may have worked at some point. His German father was strict and worked on the railroad. They did not have much money, and both his parents came from large families of 13 children each. And my grandmother revealed to me later in her life, that she married at 19 to get out of the house and away from her unhappy life. It did not turn out to be a happy adult life for her either, as she viewed it.
Isn’t he the cutest baby
My Dad graduated high school, went to work and met my mom. He was drafted into the Korean War towards its end, but did not see any action due to drinking foul water on maneuvers in Texas. The war ended and he came home gladly as he always said, he hated the army. As opposed to his older brother, my Uncle, who made a career from it.
He married my mom in 1954 after she graduated from nursing school as an RN. He was going to night school after the war to get his accounting degree. He could only go part-time because he had to earn a living. They started a family in 1956, and had 4 children in 5 years. During this time, my dad continued to work during the day, and go to school at night, while my mom stayed home and raised us kids. She would work on weekends while my dad took care of us. To say this was non-traditional is putting it mildly. How many fathers in the 1950s cooked and cleaned and took care of the kids? Not many. And how many parents really shared everything: work, kids, household? Not many!
We moved to Indiana, in the fall of 1962, where my dad had a new job. From the city to the country without batting an eyelash. Mom stayed home at this point, and dad drove an old clunker of a car, an hour each way to work, always making sure my mom had the station wagon.
So you can see my role models were very different (at least that’s what my friends always said). And my dad was the consummate kid. He loved to play with us. When we were growing up in Indiana, he came home from work, and was always playing ball with us or some other game. He even made folding the laundry fun. We never folded laundry without having a sock fight, and he would usually start it. My mom used to say she had 5 kids, and she was right. But first and foremost, he was always our father. He disciplined us, even though I think it hurt him more than us sometimes.
1949-my dad as a young man
But what I remember most was the love. The complete unconditional, non-judgmental love and acceptance of all of us with all our faults. He never dwelt on those faults either. He would look at the positive. He would talk with us. He would let us make up our minds, and make our own mistakes. He let us live our lives even if he didn’t approve. And you never really knew if he didn’t approve, because again he did not pass judgement. He was the proud dad, and he always made you know just how proud he was of all of us.
My dad was loved and admired by all who met and knew him. I used to work summers, in the same company where he worked, when I was going to college. You could see the admiration of his co-workers and the employees he supervised. He had many friends, and I never remember anyone ever saying an unkind thing about him.
And his sense of humor, and story telling was legendary. It was the Irish in him, I suspect. That dry, slightly sarcastic way he had of saying things that was so endearing. We loved to hear him tell the same stories over and over again, or have him sing his silly songs. Those that know me well know I inherited his sense of humor; dry and sarcastic as well.
My dad on the left with a friend
And I think the garden was his solace. It was where you would find him puttering in peaceful happiness. He even planted cactus, at their house, when my parents moved to Arizona. That was when the bottom dropped out though for my dad. He had lost his job at about the age of 50, and tried a few of his own businesses that failed.
He fell in love with the weather in Arizona when he took me to graduate school there. So they moved there in 1985. My mom knew something was wrong…I think we all did even though we tried to believe it was just depression. It turned out to be early onset Alzheimer’s. My dad suffered with this disease for almost 15 years until it took his life in 1998 soon after I was married. He was only 68.
Amazingly though he never lost his sense of humor or his love for his family. He would continue to garden until the disease took so much of him he did not know us anymore. He suffered in silence, never wanting his family to be hurt or affected by the disease because that was the kind of person he was. And for his sake we never showed the pain we felt, or made him feel like he was incapable of anything he wanted to do. It was the little triumphs, like when he could walk from the car to the house or still feed himself, that sustained us and at the same time pierced our hearts with a searing pain.
So I remember the man with the song in his heart and all the things we shared: gardening, our love of old movies, story-telling, discussing politics and the news. He was the listener and I was a talker. His were the huge shoulders that I cried on, and that held me up when I needed them. His voice, the heart of my father, was silenced long before his body gave out. I really lost him soon after the disease started. I was 28. To say I miss my father can’t even begin to express the love, pain, sorrow I feel daily. I feel his presence, though, whenever I am in the garden. In that place of peaceful solitude that sustains my soul, that puts me in touch with him and his memory. And maybe that is why I love it so, why I feel the compulsion, the yearning to be out there. To be with him if not on this plane of existence then in another with his spirit. So today I am celebrating the man, and my memories of my dad, on this his birthday. It is the least I can do after all he has done for me….I love you daddy!!!
“Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity.”
~John Ruskin
Special Note:
Thank you to all who have read this celebration of my dad’s life. It seemed fitting to bring this memoir back. I hope my siblings read this, and hopefully find some solace. The picture at the top of the post was taken when my dad was in the middle stages of the disease. The disease even made it hard for his brain to tell his body how to smile, but smile he did even though he had to work at it. He is pictured with his trusty buddy, our dog, Banditt. They were never apart until my dad was so sick he had to live in a group home. It broke Banditt’s heart, I think, and his health declined until he died a few years before my dad. They are together now, and I know Banditt was there to greet him. I wonder what my father would have thought of this blogging thing, and of his daughter’s writing. I am sure he would be proud smiling that fabulous grin beaming ear to ear…..
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2016. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
This poem was written on a particularly difficult day. These words became my voice as they poured from my heart. They remind me to never let go of play….it is the dance of my soul.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog. Visit them to read some more wonderful verse.
I am joining in another wonderful meme at A Spirit of Simplicity. It is called Tuesday Afternoonwhere Kara celebrates a nice slow day in a busy week. Check out her blog and the meme on Tuesday.
If you enjoy reading this blog, I welcome you to share it with others. I enjoy spreading the blog love, and I appreciate all who come and read my blogs.
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Special Note:The pictures here are of my niece, Samantha Abel, when she was 2 years old playing at the beach, and at home. She will turn 16 in November…how time does fly. They are a perfect illustration for my mantra, Play With Abandon.
I leave you with a few additional words about Playing With Abandon. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2015. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
As I wandered my garden this August, I saw the telltale signs of the seasonal change nipping at the fringes of my garden and my senses. I do love fall, and the beauty of the tattered and faded garden blooms. There is a very special beauty during this change as we move closer to the next season.
I enjoy celebrating the seasonal change and invite others who want to celebrate the changing of the season to join me in my quarterly meme, Seasonal Celebrations which I hold on my other blog, Gardens Eye View. I will have the kick-off post tomorrow. If you would like to join me in celebrating the new season, check out the post tomorrow.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog. Visit them to read some more wonderful verse.
I am also linking in with the I Heart Macro meme hosted by Laura@Shine The Divinethat happens every Saturday.
I am joining in another wonderful meme at A Spirit of Simplicity. It is called Tuesday Afternoonwhere Kara celebrates a nice slow day in a busy week. Check out her blog and the meme on Tuesday.
If you enjoy reading this blog, I welcome you to share it with others. I enjoy spreading the blog love, and I appreciate all who come and read my blogs.
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Special Note: The photos here of the late summer rains and tattered blooms from my garden last year.
I leave you with a few additional words about Late Summer Rains. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2015. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
I am continuing my series of summer poems. This one I wrote in 2012 as I looked back on my childhood wishing not to be working, but enjoying the summer days again. That feeling of ease, peace and just being in the moment.
Now in retirement, I am beginning to enjoy those days again, and trying to find that ease of summer days from my many childhood summer memories.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog. Visit them to read some more wonderful verse.
I am also joining in another wonderful meme at A Spirit of Simplicity. It is called Tuesday Afternoon where Kara celebrates a nice slow day in a busy week. Check out her blog and the meme on Tuesday.
If you enjoy reading this blog, I welcome you to share it with others. I enjoy spreading the blog love, and I appreciate all who come and read my blogs.
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Special Note: The pictures here are of those trees spreading a shady canopy and all the yellow blooms of summer that blaze brightly in the summer sun.
I leave you with a few additional words about Summer Memories. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2015. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
My dad’s birthday is Tuesday. He would have been 86, but died at the young age of 68 from the most horrific early onset Alzheimer’s disease. He suffered 15 years with this awful monster.
But I remember him now as an Easter baby full of joy, kindness and always playful. My mother called him her fifth kid. Last week’s poem spoke of the pain of his loss, but I choose to remember his life of joyful play in this week’s poem.
Many of the memories in the poem are fun times spent with my dad, especially at the Jersey Shore growing up.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog. Visit them to read some more wonderful verse.
If you enjoy reading this blog, I welcome you to share it with others. I enjoy spreading the blog love, and I appreciate all who come and read my blogs.
********
Special Note: As Ireminisce about playing as a child, I am showcasing pictures of my dad. In the top photo, he is pictured on the left as a 10 yr old boy in Philadelphia, PA. The collage shows him as a teen with his godson, his older brother’s first born. And as a young man just newly engaged.
The last photo, below, is of us kids (my sibs) with my best friend Cindy on the right in the striped pants. I’m in the middle (about 5 yrs old) on the left with that head of unruly, curly, dark brown hair. We grew up in Philadelphia until we moved about a year after this picture was taken. My dad would take us to the park on weekends while my mom worked as a nurse. He called us the Motley Crew.
I leave you with a few words about joyful play. I welcome you to download the photo and share it.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2015. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.
As my father’s birthday approaches each year, I am drawn back to those special times, and special memories. I lost my father in 1998, and sometimes there are only those days where all I have is much sadness. This poem is reflective of one of those sad times I have had recently. Next Sunday, I will post a poem that speaks of the happy memories.
I am joining in with Poets Unitedfor their weekly poetry link up for poets who blog. Visit them to read some more wonderful verse.
If you enjoy reading this blog, I welcome you to share it with others. I enjoy spreading the blog love, and I appreciate all who come and read my blogs.
********
Special Note: The lilacs from my garden represent memory as this are all I have now of my father, and many days they just do not sustain me.
I leave you with a few words about memories and loss.
All other photos and original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Living From Happiness, 2014-2015. Any reprints or use of other photos or content is by permission only.