Saturday, January 16, 2021

Back Before We Knew Cigarettes Could Kill Us,


 Linking with the Sunday Muse for Muse # 143 hosted this week by the brilliantly talented Shay AKA Fireblossom.

Thank you Shay for an amazing prompt this week to lighten our spirits and fire up our muse!!



It becomes increasingly easy, as you get older, to drown in nostalgia.  ~Ted Koppel

 

Back before we knew that cigarettes could kills us

We lit up a room with a light that no smoke could hide

Making memories that danced across the screen for decades in time

Hold on to your hat there will be no wine and waltz today

It is foxtrot with whiskey and hearts on fire all the way

These were not my grandmother’s stories but it was a world she knew

And she held a radiance and courage that older strong hearts can do

They don’t make movies like that anymore is what she would say

And hearts like hers are rare to find, but I search for them every day.

 

Post Script:

I spent summers, holidays, and my mother’s hospital stays at my grandparent’s house.  It was my true home away from home.  My fondest and most comforting times were in their home. My parents were older so my grandparents were even older than most kids my age would have.  My grandfather was born in 1899.  They had a great influence on my childhood and formative years.  Their experience and gentle wisdom kept me from falling apart, and gave me joy I may not have known otherwise.  For the first 20 years of my adulthood, I would dream of that house that I loved so much.  I have always believed we can learn so much from people with experience.  Now days I find, I am becoming one of those folks.  “A person with experience”. Not old, just filled with more stories to tell than I had back in the day.   Now if anyone will listen to them, that is another story!

  Thank you again, Shay, for giving us something to lift up the mood and boost our spirits.  I know I can speak for all of us when I say, we needed that!!




25 comments:

  1. Thanks for adding notes ... I enjoy learning more of my poet friends’ stories. This was an awesome remembrance. ( was waiting for ‘tango’ to pair up with whiskey and foxtrot. LOL)

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    1. LOL yes, tango got lost in the shuffle....thank you Helen my friend it is always a delight to see you. :-)

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  2. The poem was wonderful. Like Helen, I enjoyed the postscript and the story of your grandparents. What special memories you have of their gentle wisdom!

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  3. Lovely poem--the radiance is there in the words. And the reminiscence added to it with warmth .

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    1. Awwww thank you so much Chrissa. Hope you have a lovely weekend.

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  4. This is great and brought up such pleasant feelings, Carrie. Like yours, my grandparents were born before the turn of the last century. Love the video you included, also!

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    1. Thank you so much my friend! I am glad you liked the video too. I came across it today and thought yes that's the one for this!

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  5. What a touching read Carrie. Your love for your Grandma shines.

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    1. Thank you Rob! Yes she holds a special place in my heart!

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  6. Love your postscript! I spent my childhood listening to the stories of the old -- sometimes from another room. Oh, the things I learned.

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    1. Thank you Charley, and yes I believe you....one can learn more than you can imagine from those with much experience!

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  7. Carrie, i so resonate with your poem and, especially, what your grandparents' home meant to you as a child. My grandma's was for me, too. She is the reason i survived my childhood. I wrote a poem the other day titled Puppies and Their People that says something like this.

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    1. I am so thankful for your grandma Sherry! We needed you to survive and share your inspiration with the world. I will head over and read it today.

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  8. "We lit up a room with a light that no smoke could hide" - so good!

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  9. Love your poem and notes. Those happy, glorious memories are the twinkle in the eye.

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    1. So very true my friend and thank you for your sweet words.

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  10. Reading this made me realize how much I miss my own grandmother. Thank you for sharing the note.

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  11. Carrie, I liked this a lot. At the beginning, cigarettes, they were a big deal in growing up. I could write a thin book with my smoking experiences, almost half were before I graduated from high school. When I entered college we had "smokers" where the cigarret makers would pass out their wares as samples for us to smoke.
    My grandmother, Dad's mom, was special to me and she made me feel special. We did not have a washing machine so we went to her house once a week just to wash clothes. Thank you for sharing.
    ..

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    1. Grandmothers are a special part of the life of many of us. So glad you stopped by Jim.

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    2. I love the addition of background. I learned lessons from my grandparents who spoke very little English, but it didn’t matter.

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