I'd Gladly Trade 2-9-14

I run around to get things done.  It often makes me sad.

I'd gladly trade these times today for those my grandma¹ had.

The world is changing rapidly and keep up, I cannot.

I have so many gadgets now I don't know all I've got.

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Yes, I would listen to her words and all she had to say.

Enjoyed, we did, our daily chores each moment of the day.

Now after reading verses in my brand new Testament,

she asked if I had finished chores.  I knew just what she meant.

Yes, all the chores- not some of them.  I didn't need a list.

It was a job to milk ol' 'Horns'² and not the easiest.

I'd throw the feed to chickens as they scampered on their legs.

I'd move the mother hens aside and gather their warm eggs.

Ingredients, my grandma took, that she had 'round about.

She mixed them all together in odd ways she figured out.

That rich aroma stole my nose with all her baking done -

and to this day I don't know how she always beat the sun.

She made an extra pumpkin pie just for the neighbor folk.

I listened most intently to my grandma when she spoke.

The days were hot and work was hard while sweat would soak our clothes

but never were there better days than when I think of those.

Before her home³ was torn down I had memorized them all -

each of Ten Commandments that hung squarely on her wall.

The great depression took its toll and she had lost to banks -

but she took time to pray each day to give our Savior thanks.

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The world is changing rapidly. I don't know what to say,

but this I know- I cried and cried the day she passed away.

I run around to get things done.  It often makes me sad

and gladly trade these times today for those my grandma had.

©2014 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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¹ Grandma Ida 1896 to 1990.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~terrybell/mcdermott/descendants.htm

² 'Horns' was really named 'Horney' and was the meanest of all the cows on the small farms my grandparents Homer and Ida owned (but she was still milked nonetheless).

³ Grandma's farm house had stood at North Clayton, WI. 

50 acres
Clayton, WI

43° 23.542', -90° 43.685'

200 acres

15044-15452 Vance Rd

Gays Mills, WI 54631

43° 21.017', -90° 47.780'