Dorothy
Alice Furr Lingle
Estelle Louise Hagnauer Ittner
Carbondale
What Ever Happened To. . . .
Wildflower walks, gathering spring "greens" and hedge apples
to chase off "bugs,"
"Margarine" made from lard and orange coloring, so the "Boys
OVER THERE" could have "real butter,"
Mom's special knife that cut the longest, thinnest ribbon of
apple peel in town!
The headless dress "dummy" in the spare closet, for that matter,
what happened to the "spare closets",
Unbleached muslin "tea towels", and dresses made from printed
feed sacks,
Where are the wooden "darning eggs," button jars and hatboxes,
Orange crate sleds, roller skate keys, stilts and tin-can puddle
jumpers,
Door-to-door delivery of cream-topped milk and burlap covered
ice blocks,
What of PEOPLE-POWERED lawn mowers, sewing machines, typewriters
and egg beaters?
Such things STILL EXIST in the marvelous memories of our elders.
MAKE TIME to chat with an older person. Enjoy the past with
those who CREATED it!
Top
Ginny
Waller
St. Charles
William's Lament
Each morning I slowly summon my aching bones to gather themselves
together one more time. One foot and then another reaches out
to grasp the floor. Steadying for yet another day, I will myself
erect. Eyes slowly focus.
Glancing in the direction of the mirror, I am compelled to lock
eyes with The Old Geezer each morning. I cannot escape the mocking
reflection of today's reality.
The Old Geezer never betrays the Youth lurking just beneath
my skin. Our daily battle is a tryst in time that I cannot win.
Alas, I am an eighteen year old imprisoned in and eighty year
old body.
Top
Gail
M. Willis
Freeport
Her eyes - I look into her tired eyes as we talk, mother and
daughter, soon-to-be senior citizen and not so recently elderly,
aged. Family, happy memories, make the eyes brighten and sharpen
for a while - crinkle with laughter, sparkle with alertness.
She seem younger then, feeling it too, recalling the friends,
feet dancing the nights away, the fascination of golf, the joy
of vigorous activity. As talk moves back to the present the
light in her eyes fades a little and she quiets. The talk now
is of doctors and pills as a shaky hand pours another cup of
coffee.
The uncertain step, the obvious effort it takes to do small
things, makes me aware of the invisible clock silently ticking
her life away and I mourn. How I will miss her, my mother, my
friend.
Top
LaVern
Oatman
Kreitner, Collinsville
Aging
She quietly sits with a smile on her face,
in a sweet manner of innocence and grace.
Each line represents a memory or two,
for the past and the present--some old and some new.
I ask her how she's feeling today,
she tells me "Oh, I guess I'm OK."
But as she is speaking I sense pain in her eyes,
and in her frail voice I hear her soft sighs.
She says she's just old and tired and unsteady,
and a slight glance toward Heaven tells me she's ready.
She reminisces about the "good ole days,"
where people were nicer and everyone prayed.
Time was more precious than silver or gold,
and folks didn't worry much about growing old.
Why, we didn't think a thing of unlocked doors,
and everyone pitched in and helped with the chores.
I don't understand what's happened on this earth,
seems to me we need a new birth.
Well, as I said my good-bye I sensed some sorrow,
maybe she's feeling that she'll see no tomorrow.
Top
Martha
Ward Miller
Chicago
Henry Betts, MD
In 1965, I toured the new Chicago Rehabilitation Institute of
Chicago. I was a graduate student studying the physically challenged
population. Our docent gave us a tour and Dr. Henry Betts spoke
a few words from Job. The mission of rebuilding the person once
life is impacted by a serious accident or injury.
In 1995, I had a personal interview with Dr. Henry Betts. I
learned that he had attended a country school with a teacher,
who had Polio. Later, in college he would have a drone who was
physically challenged. In medical school he would also have
a professor with physical challenges. He just accepted these
individuals as talented instructors and yet he knew that the
world would not be as accepting from various prejudices he experienced
once he began working with patients as a physician.
The Americans with Disabilities Act gained medical and technological
contributions from Henry Betts. A recent winner of the Henry
Betts award is teaching third world persons to make their won
wheel chairs.
I thought back thirty years when I had met this most accommodating
and accessible doctor, who had changed the global world with
help and hope.
Top
Linda
Fairleigh
Marion
Normandy
A man known as "C.T."
Who went across the seas
To a place called Normandy.
He was shot in the head
It felt like he was dead.
He was a prisoner-of-war
For a year or more.
He came home with a side
He couldn't use or hide.
"This is what I get for fighting a war!"
He said, "Ever-time I look to the sky,
I get a tear in my eye,
Remembering the old foxhole
Where I almost died. . . .but we all survived!"
Top
Phyllis
Bierdz
Mayslake Village, Oak Brook
Time, In Time
Advice:
Don't get old my dear, she sighed
Dance and feel the sun--
For soon it hides it's golden light
And soon the song is done.
Musing:
Like you, my gait was fast and sure
I labored, laughed, and learned.
My spirit mew, by body whole
As plan and passion burned.
Retrospect:
Too quickly does the night come down
And what is known is gone--
Where ever did my life begin
What words go with my song?
What prizes do I carry now
How was my music played
Is youth so lost it can't be found
Were riches dearly paid?
Gift:
A melody is given us
In quarter time and rounds
The treble and the bass both play
A harmony of sounds.
Wisdom:
To know the best of each new day
To travel on and greet--
Another time to sing-a-long
With voice and music sweet.
Top
Loralee
Pena
Champaign
Teachers Need to be Taught Too!
The last of school - Report Card day! I was a second grader,
soon to be a third grader, at Lincoln Elementary School in Urbana,
Illinois. The teacher called us in alphabetical order and with
my last name, Abbott, I was usually first one called. I could
hardly wait to see if I had passed. I opened my report card
and looked past the S+ and excellent work comments and looked
right for the number after 'Promoted to _________.' It was the
number 2! I was shocked. I wanted to cry. It was time to head
for home. The other kids were gathering around and wanted to
see my report card. I didn't want them to see it. But, I showed
my best friend and she found out that I hadn't passed. Everybody
was talking about how Loralee had not been promoted to third
grade. I ran all the way home.
I was sent next door where the second grade teacher lived. I
could hardly look her in the eye. I just stuck the card out
and said in a mad little voice, "here!" She looked over the
report card and when she came to the promoted part and saw the
number 2, she was surprised. She quickly took a pen and made
the number 3. I found out later, she was very concerned that
she might have made a mistake on some of the other report cards.
Now that I am teacher, I am particularly careful when filling
out report cards and grading papers for my students.
Top
