Catherine, Gemma and I traveled to Greensboro,NC last weekend, where John and Sherry and their entire family offered us wonderful hospitality. The star of our family, Mom and Gram, was hospitalized for pneumonia two weeks ago, and is not bouncing back too well. She celebrated her ninety sixth birthday on July 28.
The book of Jack Pierce's poems was created with the help of a family friend. The picture on the cover is Betty and Jack on their honeymoon in February 1942. As the 1966 poem says: "You started it all in Forty two, in something borrowed, something blue. Through the years, who is your most ardent fan, of course you know, just the old man." He was a real romantic, with a great sense of humor!
Jaye, Catherine, Mom, and I read all of Dad's poems out loud. Here's an excerpt from the poem of Christmas 1969: "Her hair's turning gray, the spirit's bold, just a few signs that she's getting old. Her hair may be tinged but her eyes still shine bright, ruffle her feathers and you've got a fight. During daylight, hers they fuss fume and fret. When darkness settles in, the sack's the best bet. As time catches up they're not far from each other. Why not, he married a grandmother." ( A grandmother of eight and great grandmother of eleven and one due in December. Betty and Jack's family is getting bigger all the time!)
Some words of wisdom from Jack to his wife: "What can one say when near the end of the day of life's tumultuous span, when your heart is glad, life is good, really not bad, pleasant thought let memory fan. You've done what you could, best you can, knock on wood. Remember the pleasures you've had. All the years gone past, not enough done, all too fast, loving, living, is more than a fad. The name of the game is not fortune or fame, more likely tis how did one love."
Four generations!
Cousins add so much to life!
Time flies- I remember when Catherine was the flower girl at Jacqueline's wedding.
Bonding time with second cousins- Sharon was a delightful host and we had fun at her house and at the Messicks!
John and his whole family are serious Panther fans. I watched the Panthers pull out an exciting last second victory in their season opener. We Eagles won also, so everybody was happy.
John and Sherry just celebrated their 40th wedding Anniversary. Congratulations and thanks for the great witness of your faithful love!
Greg and Fred picked me up at the airport, and we had time for dinner with Catherine since she had a layover. It's always good to spend time with our far flung family!
Catherine, Gemma and I traveled to Greensboro,NC last weekend, where John and Sherry and their entire family offered us wonderful hospitality. The star of our family, Mom and Gram, was hospitalized for pneumonia two weeks ago, and is not bouncing back too well. She celebrated her ninety sixth birthday on July 28.
The book of Jack Pierce's poems was created with the help of a family friend. The picture on the cover is Betty and Jack on their honeymoon in February 1942. As the 1966 poem says: "You started it all in Forty two, in something borrowed, something blue. Through the years, who is your most ardent fan, of course you know, just the old man." He was a real romantic, with a great sense of humor!
Jaye, Catherine, Mom, and I read all of Dad's poems out loud. Here's an excerpt from the poem of Christmas 1969: "Her hair's turning gray, the spirit's bold, just a few signs that she's getting old. Her hair may be tinged but her eyes still shine bright, ruffle her feathers and you've got a fight. During daylight, hers they fuss fume and fret. When darkness settles in, the sack's the best bet. As time catches up they're not far from each other. Why not, he married a grandmother." ( A grandmother of eight and great grandmother of eleven and one due in December. Betty and Jack's family is getting bigger all the time!)
Some words of wisdom from Jack to his wife: "What can one say when near the end of the day of life's tumultuous span, when your heart is glad, life is good, really not bad, pleasant thought let memory fan. You've done what you could, best you can, knock on wood. Remember the pleasures you've had. All the years gone past, not enough done, all too fast, loving, living, is more than a fad. The name of the game is not fortune or fame, more likely tis how did one love."
Four generations!
Cousins add so much to life!
Time flies- I remember when Catherine was the flower girl at Jacqueline's wedding.
Bonding time with second cousins- Sharon was a delightful host and we had fun at her house and at the Messicks!
John and his whole family are serious Panther fans. I watched the Panthers pull out an exciting last second victory in their season opener. We Eagles won also, so everybody was happy.
John and Sherry just celebrated their 40th wedding Anniversary. Congratulations and thanks for the great witness of your faithful love!
Greg and Fred picked me up at the airport, and we had time for dinner with Catherine since she had a layover. It's always good to spend time with our far flung family!
3 comments:
What a great post! You do a wonderful job honoring Gram!!!
We were so glad you came down!
Thanks for being so thoughtful in preserving so much of Gram's history in the book!!!
Wow, Mom! You really have a great gift of writing, and managed to sum up our whole trip beautifully. What a wonderful weekend it was. Thank you again for everything. It was so nice to be with you. We love you and will talk to you soon.
What a wonderful gift to all of you, as well as Grandma Betty - putting all of Jack's poems in a book. His love, wisdom and humor are inspiring to me. My favorite quote you included : "All the years gone past, not enough done, all too fast, loving, living, is more than a fad. The name of the game is not fortune or fame, more likely tis how did one love."
Wow. It's awesome to reflect on how Jack's philosophy of life has been so lived out by his sons, and now all of you wonderful Pierce grandchildren - the Northern and the Southern Pierces!
I love you all,
Teresa
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