A Side We Never Knew

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dlr110
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A Side We Never Knew

Post by dlr110 »

Continuing to go through my late mother in laws belongs Cheryl found a stack of poems and songs that her mother and step father had written back in the 80's & 90's on an old manual typewriter. They may not be the best, but reading them reveals a side of both of them that I never saw or maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough.

After they both retired from the county court house they lived the dream by buying a big motor home and hit the American highways. They would leave around April/May and then we wouldn't see them until we all showed up at the Oklahoma family reunion in September. Each year they would take off to a different part of the country. They would have all kinds of things they had bought to show us and to share their stories of traveling the back roads of American.

Most of the poems and songs we found are about traveling through life's journey. When you think you know all there is about someone, stop and take a second look, you just might be surprised at what you see or learn about them. These are some of life's treasures that will be passed down to those that loved them.

Here is 2 of the over 3 dozen they wrote.
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David R (United States Navy Retired)
Don't just count your many blessings, be the blessing others count on!
Visit my website: Woodburning Art by David https://www.wdbydavid.com/
kootenay joe
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Re: A Side We Never Knew

Post by kootenay joe »

They both sound lonely in these 2 poems. If i was driving a motorhome around the country i think i would be lonely because it would only be me in the motorhome. My belief system tells me if you have a 'partner' with you, you won't be lonely. But the truth is that people in a long term relationship can be lonely for companionship just as single people can.
kj
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Railsplitter
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Re: A Side We Never Knew

Post by Railsplitter »

Interesting stuff David. It reminds me of something that happened to me about 4 years ago. I hope you don't mind my sharing it here.

My birth mother died in 1965 when I was 4 years old. About 4 years ago, 52 years after her death, my brother sent me a scanned picture of a letter he found in a box of my late grandma's things. It was a letter that my mother had written and mailed to my grandma (her mother) sometime before she died. She talked a lot about us kids and what we were up to at the time.

I have a couple of other things that my mother owned that were given to me by my grandma but this letter is the most special item. I barely remember my mother and this letter written in her own handwriting and her own words reveals a small piece of her personality. My brother and I are both equally pleased that he found it so many years later.
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dlr110
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Re: A Side We Never Knew

Post by dlr110 »

kootenay joe wrote: Sat Jun 12, 2021 11:49 pm They both sound lonely in these 2 poems. If i was driving a motorhome around the country i think i would be lonely because it would only be me in the motorhome. My belief system tells me if you have a 'partner' with you, you won't be lonely. But the truth is that people in a long term relationship can be lonely for companionship just as single people can.
kj
The one from my mother in law I know she is reflecting on her youth growing up in the middle of no where Oklahoma in the 30's and 40's. My father in law was just weird, he even wrote some songs that go back to his upbringing in the Western Virginia cool mine areas. Both of them were dirt poor growing up so I think a lot of their writings reflect that and the hopelessness they may have felt back then.
Thank you kj for reading and commenting.
David R (United States Navy Retired)
Don't just count your many blessings, be the blessing others count on!
Visit my website: Woodburning Art by David https://www.wdbydavid.com/
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dlr110
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Re: A Side We Never Knew

Post by dlr110 »

Railsplitter wrote: Sun Jun 13, 2021 12:11 am Interesting stuff David. It reminds me of something that happened to me about 4 years ago. I hope you don't mind my sharing it here.

My birth mother died in 1965 when I was 4 years old. About 4 years ago, 52 years after her death, my brother sent me a scanned picture of a letter he found in a box of my late grandma's things. It was a letter that my mother had written and mailed to my grandma (her mother) sometime before she died. She talked a lot about us kids and what we were up to at the time.

I have a couple of other things that my mother owned that were given to me by my grandma but this letter is the most special item. I barely remember my mother and this letter written in her own handwriting and her own words reveals a small piece of her personality. My brother and I are both equally pleased that he found it so many years later.
I understand Rick, things like this can show us parts of someone we may have never known or understand. These that my wife Cheryl has will never make it into publication, but they are priceless to Cheryl and I bet that letter you have from your mother is also. Thanks for you response my friend.
David R (United States Navy Retired)
Don't just count your many blessings, be the blessing others count on!
Visit my website: Woodburning Art by David https://www.wdbydavid.com/
kootenay joe
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Re: A Side We Never Knew

Post by kootenay joe »

David, thank you for posting these poems. It is interesting that each reader brings his own life experiences along when reading what someone else has written. Most readers interpret what they have read differently from what the writer was thinking about as they were writing.
Good writing stirs emotions in the reader. It does not matter if the interpretation is not what the writer was intending.
kj
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