OUR LIVES ARE SHAPED BY SPECIAL MOMENTS
My mother turns 87 in January 2016. She is a really wonderful, special person - very giving in so many ways, and at special moments extraordinarily unselfish - even more so than usual. She was working through the culling out of a batch of items she had saved that held deep sentiment for her - trying to decide what could be tossed when she found the poem ("A Christmas Memory") that she wrote to her oldest sister, Viola Sisemore Stephenson, at the time of her passing on January 24, 2004. It is a retelling of one of my mother's favorite memories of the selflessness and love her older sister showed to her at about the age of 6 in Georgia USA. Here it is. I hope you will find something that touches your heart and causes you to recall some special characteristic about someone in your life - a special moment that helped to shape the person that has become YOU.
A Christmas Memory
The building in this picture
Taken deep in Georgia land
Is forgotten and neglected;
No longer used by man.
But when I saw it I was
Reminded of a time long ago
When you and I were young
And excursioning would go.
It took me back to a day
When through the woods we walked
And came upon a little brook
Flowing quietly o're the rocks
Where we were destined I cannot say
Yet I know it was a happy day.
Our chore became to jump that brook.
A running stgart was needed.
The boys ran on with a leap and bound
The brook's domain unheeded.
Now my turn came to leap that brook
And courage, I knew, was what it took.
With spirit strong I made my start,
The other side seemed far to my trembling heart.
I made my leap, but then while in mid-air
I spied a flower -- a violet -- growing there.
Dressed in deepest purple, even now I see it so;
Nestled deep amid the shadows where God chose it to grow.
But, oh, my goodness, now I see
This little brook had bested me.
For into it's shimmering reflection I would land;
And then I saw your outstretched hand.
Still I see the tender look on your face
As you stood there with love and poise and grace
Offering assurance, my courage stayed,
And then I knew I was saved.
Yes, after all these years I still recall
How your outstretched hand stayed my fall
That happy day in far off Georgia land.
To my beloved sister,
Viola Sisemore Stephenson
January 4, 1918 - January 24, 2004
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