{"id":9222,"date":"2016-08-12T19:23:06","date_gmt":"2016-08-12T19:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/?p=9222"},"modified":"2016-08-15T17:44:43","modified_gmt":"2016-08-15T17:44:43","slug":"august-days-my-grandmother-was-a-poet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/2016\/08\/august-days-my-grandmother-was-a-poet\/","title":{"rendered":"August days: My grandmother was a poet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_8336\"<\/a>I haven\u2019t been posting a lot but I have been thinking about life events and the end of life. I got a little crabby the other day. Is it the weather? Midsummer blues? Aging? Just impatience and frustration on my part? That\u2019s what has been on my mind lately.<\/p>\n

One of my siblings is moving and came across these printed cards. They are poems written by my grandmother Bertha L. Wade<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

She lived to be well into her nineties. Almost all her children (including my father) predeceased her. Nana, as we called her, lived with her daughter Sue and Sue\u2019s family in Lake Forest. After Nana died in 1970 Aunt Sue made these cards and gave them to us so that we might remember Nana\u2019s poems.<\/p>\n

My cards are tucked away some place very safe in a shoebox of mementoes in the crawlspace or basement.<\/p>\n

I would guess my love of writing might be related to my grandmother\u2019s love of writing. And it seems I might think about death just as she did. Now when people in my age group are facing their mortality, I think of about death and the meaning of life more than ever.<\/p>\n

When I considered my grandmother\u2019s poems I often thought of them as being similar to Edna Vincent Millay\u2019s work in that they both use drama as a poetic device.<\/p>\n

I share these poems here because they may bring solace<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I give you the cards as printed. I also share the work as I think they might have been. I think the spacing got problematic on the card for the poem \u201cMy God\u201d and that the lines got mixed up.<\/p>\n

My biggest question, and here\u2019s where I\u2019d love to hear what you think<\/strong>, concerns the penultimate line of that poem.<\/p>\n

As it appears on the cards it is: \u201cYou\u2019ve been faithful in few things\u201d whereas I wonder whether it ought to be \u201cYou have been faithful in a few things.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you think \u2013 should there be the addition of \u201ca\u2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Peace, love, and solace<\/strong><\/p>\n

Petition<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please dear God – I ask of Thee,
\nTo hold my trembling hands for me.
\nWhile the last hour of life is mine.
\nHold them tightly close in Thine
\nIf restless they may become
\nLet me me breathe – Thy will be done.
\nWhen earthly things I cannot see
\nDear God\u2014Please smile to me.
\nThen will I know my soul is Thine
\nAnd peace, everlasting peace, eternally mine.<\/p>\n

Bertha L. Wade<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Petition<\/a>
Petition by Bertha L. Wade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My God<\/strong><\/p>\n

When my soul takes its flight in darkness or in light,
\nTo waken from my last long sleep.<\/p>\n

Remember me as you did the dying thief.
\nThe promise of Paradise and this day to meet
\nIf I am alone to stand or
\nKneel at your sacred throne.<\/p>\n

See my grief \u2013 hear my cry
\nMy Lord, my God, Don\u2019t pass me by.
\nTake Thou my hand \u2013 let me he hear Thee say.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been faithful in few things,
\nCome my way.<\/p>\n

Bertha L. Wade<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>
My God by Bertha L. Wade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I haven\u2019t been posting a lot but I have been thinking about life events and the end of life. I got a little crabby the other day. Is it the weather? Midsummer blues? Aging? Just impatience and frustration on my part? That\u2019s what has been on my mind lately. One of my siblings is moving […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3040,3038,1166,3044,3041,12,3042,3039,39,13,3043,7,16,32],"class_list":{"0":"post-9222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"tag-ancestors-poetry","8":"tag-bertha-l-wade","9":"tag-death","10":"tag-dramatic-poetry","11":"tag-edna-saint-vincent-millay","12":"tag-ellen-wade-beals","13":"tag-end-of-life","14":"tag-old-poetry","15":"tag-photography","16":"tag-poetry","17":"tag-poetry-about-death","18":"tag-solace","19":"tag-solace-in-so-many-words","20":"tag-weighed-words","21":"entry","22":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9222"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9236,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9222\/revisions\/9236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solaceinabook.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}