DAY-OLD CHILD
My day-old child lay in my arms.
With my lips against his ear
I whispered strongly, "How I wish --
I wish that you could hear;
"I've a hundred wonderful things to say
(A tiny cough and a nod),
Hurry, hurry, hurry and grow
So I can tell you about God."
My day-old baby's mouth was still
And my words only tickled his ear.
But a kind of light passed through his eyes,
And I saw this thought appear;
"How I wish I had a voice and words;
I've a hundred things to say.
Before I forget I'd tell you of God --
I left Him yesterday."
I received Beginnings in 1971 as a thank-you gift from a friend for singing at her wedding. It was one of her favorite books and immediately became one of mine as well. I had given birth to our two oldest in 1968 and 1970. This poem rang oh so true. I took the book to the hospital with me for the birth of our other four children and read "Day-Old Child" my first nights of holding my day-old babies.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
A Continuum
Today Rosie Denny called to ask me if I could help her find a poem. She visits an inactive church sister by phone, and this sister would like to find a specific poem she remembers. Rosie thought I might know the poem or be able to help her find it. Thank goodness, it is a poem I remember from years ago when I was in my child-bearing years.
The poem is "Day Old Child" by Carol Lynn Pearson and I KNOW I have a copy of Beginnings, which contains the poem. Naturally, the problem is that I now need to locate the book. But that should be easy since I know where most of the books I'm keeping are located.
I was hoping to find the poem on one of the internet sites about the author. I didn't. But I did find another fine poem from the same book and I'm copying it here for myself and anyone who might check this blog. Most of the poems are from the perspective of a young mother. Here is the title poem:
Beginnings
Today
You came running
With a small specked egg
Warm in your hand.
You could barely understand,
I know,
As I told you of
Beginnings–
Of egg and bird.
Told, too,
That years ago you began,
Smaller than sight.
And then,
As egg yearns for sky
And seed stretches to tree,
You became–
Like me.
Oh,but there's so much more.
You and I, child,
Have just begun.
Think:
Worlds from now
What might we be?-
We, who are seed
Of Deity.
~ ~ Carol Lynn Pearson
Reading this now as a mother of adult children with children of their own, I have an expanded view of the meaning of the poem and of eternal life. I see the little ones God sent through me no longer as potential adults. They ARE adults. I am so pleased with each one of them, and so thrilled to find out where they going and where they have been. Apron strings are cut, but never heart strings. We are connected in ever-changing ways, yet still have the shared beginnings that bind us forever. We are connected that same way to our heavenly parents. And so it goes on and on. . . .
Life is quite the exciting trip, and we can always find joy in it. Won't it be wonderful to see this continue into the next life and see what we will then become?
When I find "Day Old Child," I will post it as well.
The poem is "Day Old Child" by Carol Lynn Pearson and I KNOW I have a copy of Beginnings, which contains the poem. Naturally, the problem is that I now need to locate the book. But that should be easy since I know where most of the books I'm keeping are located.
I was hoping to find the poem on one of the internet sites about the author. I didn't. But I did find another fine poem from the same book and I'm copying it here for myself and anyone who might check this blog. Most of the poems are from the perspective of a young mother. Here is the title poem:
Beginnings
Today
You came running
With a small specked egg
Warm in your hand.
You could barely understand,
I know,
As I told you of
Beginnings–
Of egg and bird.
Told, too,
That years ago you began,
Smaller than sight.
And then,
As egg yearns for sky
And seed stretches to tree,
You became–
Like me.
Oh,but there's so much more.
You and I, child,
Have just begun.
Think:
Worlds from now
What might we be?-
We, who are seed
Of Deity.
~ ~ Carol Lynn Pearson
Reading this now as a mother of adult children with children of their own, I have an expanded view of the meaning of the poem and of eternal life. I see the little ones God sent through me no longer as potential adults. They ARE adults. I am so pleased with each one of them, and so thrilled to find out where they going and where they have been. Apron strings are cut, but never heart strings. We are connected in ever-changing ways, yet still have the shared beginnings that bind us forever. We are connected that same way to our heavenly parents. And so it goes on and on. . . .
Life is quite the exciting trip, and we can always find joy in it. Won't it be wonderful to see this continue into the next life and see what we will then become?
When I find "Day Old Child," I will post it as well.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
My Days in Court
Last week I was on jury duty. Going in I felt almost honored to be asked to participate in our American system of justice this way. It is an important responsibility. I was happy that after the questioning by the judge and attorneys I was in the group chosen to sit on the jury of a criminal trial. All of us listened to testimony and our instructions, and when it was our time to go into the jury room, we discussed the counts brought up against the defendant and came to a decision.
We gave our judgment, and after the courtroom cleared and we gathered our belongings, the judge interviewed us and told us many things about the defendant that had been withheld from us before and during the trial. The defendant had been on parole, and his attack on his ex-girlfriend had put him back into prison to serve the remainder of that earlier sexual misconduct sentence. We jury members gave a collective deep sigh of disappointment because we had been way too generous in our judgment on his attack of last summer. He had invited his ex-girlfriend for dinner and a movie at his place while their 8-month daughter slept in the back bedroom. He had had custody of the child several days prior. He took his ex by force into a bedroom in his mobile home and attempted to rape her. However, he stopped the attack and let her go.
I'm copying parts of a letter I wrote to the judge the evening after we gave our decision:
Dear Judge,
As you might imagine, most of us jury members for the trial of MP are heartsick over the verdict we returned today in light of what we learned in our interview with you after the trial. I can only imagine MP is happily flabbergasted while RC is totally stupefied. My heart goes out to her.
It seems our confusion came from several sources.
1. We didn’t understand the idea of abandonment under Minnesota law. We believed that when MP stopped the attack, we had to consider that as a conscious choice which would seemingly “erase” the initiation of the attack. Since we couldn’t read his motivation, we looked at the idea of “good faith” too broadly. ANY reason for his letting RC go was a positive for us. We discussed the idea of reasonable doubt pertaining to this point, and to others.
2. We separated reasons for the attack, coming to agree that after RC refused sex, MP became enraged, thus making the attack no longer sexual in nature. Looking back, we were SOOOO wrong. We should have realized it was sexual in nature because he was still attempting penetration. That is a question we should have asked of you.
3. RC had a history with MP, and freely admitted his ___ “only brushed” against her vaginal area. It seemed very possible she didn’t want to bring charges against this former lover and the father of one of her children. She didn’t call 911 until talking with her mother. RC mentioned her mother, friends, and friends’ mothers as having advised her to bring charges against MP. RC admitted she and MP had a quarrelsome relationship; perhaps she felt things would blow over once she distanced herself from him because they had in the past, but was then pressured by others to press charges. When one of the first calls she made was to tell MP to bring the baby to their friends’ house so she could pick her up, it seemed she was confident that he would do what she told him. So while she was terribly threatened during the attack, once he stopped and she was away, she seemed to be handling things well enough.
4. During her testimony, RC could have used stronger words and been more certain of herself in order to be more convincing. It must have been confusing at first to tell her story multiple times, depending on the manner of the questioning by various people. But after 7 months, it seems she should have calmed down enough to be more certain of what happened. She was still qualifying, as if she didn’t really want to get MP in a lot of trouble.
5. There were no pictures of physical damages to RC, not even to the lower leg MP had zipped to the mattress handle. Was it lucky for MP that she didn’t bruise much?
6. I could to on and on, but I won’t. This is already too long for me to hope you might read the whole letter!
These concerns only scratch the surface. As I said, I know most of us are heartsick. It seems so unfair that we didn’t know MP’s history. That could have been the reason his attorney didn’t put up a defense. But we thought of a number of other, less nefarious reasons as well. We simply did not know.
This was one of the hardest situations in which I have ever been involved. I’m so sorry we didn’t return a more JUST verdict. I hated not having background and certain knowledge. We were too gullible and soft in giving MP the benefit of the doubt. We didn’t interpret our instructions well. We all agreed we wanted to rule more strongly against him, but erred in thinking the evidence wasn’t strong enough for us to do so. I am thankful, though, that MP is identified for what he is and that he will serve more prison time. Please consider giving him the maximum sentence for the predatory kidnapping charge.
Thank you for the way you conduct your court. It must be a very hard thing to be a judge. I appreciate the way you handled us jurors.
PS - - . . . and after a couple of hours letting this letter “cure,” I’m still feeling rather shabby for the weak verdict we returned. The bad guy sort of won.
(End of letter to judge)
We didn't even know MP's age until after the trial. He is 27 or 28; RC is 21. Even that might have given us a clue he had a history, rather than leave us to think perhaps these were simply 2 relatively decent people having a temptestuous relationship. MP's sexual misconducts of the past are on his record still, of course. And the one good thing we did was add predatory kidnapping to his wrap sheet so the people who live in his neighborhood have a better idea of how dangerous he can be.
Serving on a jury is indeed a deep responsibility. I'm thankful to have gone through the experience. Until today, my thought has been that I hope never to have to serve again. But I'm coming to see that I learned so much from this that I would be a much better juror if I am ever called in the future.
I'm so thankful for my testimony of the gospel. I know our judgment here is imperfect-- way imperfect. But we did the best we could with what we were shown and instructed during the trial. We did what was asked of us, and MP will serve more time and carry an additional label through his life. I know MP will finally be judged by the Lord in His full knowledge, mercy, and justice. We judged MP too softly, but his final judgment will be ultimately fair. This is my comfort.
We gave our judgment, and after the courtroom cleared and we gathered our belongings, the judge interviewed us and told us many things about the defendant that had been withheld from us before and during the trial. The defendant had been on parole, and his attack on his ex-girlfriend had put him back into prison to serve the remainder of that earlier sexual misconduct sentence. We jury members gave a collective deep sigh of disappointment because we had been way too generous in our judgment on his attack of last summer. He had invited his ex-girlfriend for dinner and a movie at his place while their 8-month daughter slept in the back bedroom. He had had custody of the child several days prior. He took his ex by force into a bedroom in his mobile home and attempted to rape her. However, he stopped the attack and let her go.
I'm copying parts of a letter I wrote to the judge the evening after we gave our decision:
Dear Judge,
As you might imagine, most of us jury members for the trial of MP are heartsick over the verdict we returned today in light of what we learned in our interview with you after the trial. I can only imagine MP is happily flabbergasted while RC is totally stupefied. My heart goes out to her.
It seems our confusion came from several sources.
1. We didn’t understand the idea of abandonment under Minnesota law. We believed that when MP stopped the attack, we had to consider that as a conscious choice which would seemingly “erase” the initiation of the attack. Since we couldn’t read his motivation, we looked at the idea of “good faith” too broadly. ANY reason for his letting RC go was a positive for us. We discussed the idea of reasonable doubt pertaining to this point, and to others.
2. We separated reasons for the attack, coming to agree that after RC refused sex, MP became enraged, thus making the attack no longer sexual in nature. Looking back, we were SOOOO wrong. We should have realized it was sexual in nature because he was still attempting penetration. That is a question we should have asked of you.
3. RC had a history with MP, and freely admitted his ___ “only brushed” against her vaginal area. It seemed very possible she didn’t want to bring charges against this former lover and the father of one of her children. She didn’t call 911 until talking with her mother. RC mentioned her mother, friends, and friends’ mothers as having advised her to bring charges against MP. RC admitted she and MP had a quarrelsome relationship; perhaps she felt things would blow over once she distanced herself from him because they had in the past, but was then pressured by others to press charges. When one of the first calls she made was to tell MP to bring the baby to their friends’ house so she could pick her up, it seemed she was confident that he would do what she told him. So while she was terribly threatened during the attack, once he stopped and she was away, she seemed to be handling things well enough.
4. During her testimony, RC could have used stronger words and been more certain of herself in order to be more convincing. It must have been confusing at first to tell her story multiple times, depending on the manner of the questioning by various people. But after 7 months, it seems she should have calmed down enough to be more certain of what happened. She was still qualifying, as if she didn’t really want to get MP in a lot of trouble.
5. There were no pictures of physical damages to RC, not even to the lower leg MP had zipped to the mattress handle. Was it lucky for MP that she didn’t bruise much?
6. I could to on and on, but I won’t. This is already too long for me to hope you might read the whole letter!
These concerns only scratch the surface. As I said, I know most of us are heartsick. It seems so unfair that we didn’t know MP’s history. That could have been the reason his attorney didn’t put up a defense. But we thought of a number of other, less nefarious reasons as well. We simply did not know.
This was one of the hardest situations in which I have ever been involved. I’m so sorry we didn’t return a more JUST verdict. I hated not having background and certain knowledge. We were too gullible and soft in giving MP the benefit of the doubt. We didn’t interpret our instructions well. We all agreed we wanted to rule more strongly against him, but erred in thinking the evidence wasn’t strong enough for us to do so. I am thankful, though, that MP is identified for what he is and that he will serve more prison time. Please consider giving him the maximum sentence for the predatory kidnapping charge.
Thank you for the way you conduct your court. It must be a very hard thing to be a judge. I appreciate the way you handled us jurors.
PS - - . . . and after a couple of hours letting this letter “cure,” I’m still feeling rather shabby for the weak verdict we returned. The bad guy sort of won.
(End of letter to judge)
We didn't even know MP's age until after the trial. He is 27 or 28; RC is 21. Even that might have given us a clue he had a history, rather than leave us to think perhaps these were simply 2 relatively decent people having a temptestuous relationship. MP's sexual misconducts of the past are on his record still, of course. And the one good thing we did was add predatory kidnapping to his wrap sheet so the people who live in his neighborhood have a better idea of how dangerous he can be.
Serving on a jury is indeed a deep responsibility. I'm thankful to have gone through the experience. Until today, my thought has been that I hope never to have to serve again. But I'm coming to see that I learned so much from this that I would be a much better juror if I am ever called in the future.
I'm so thankful for my testimony of the gospel. I know our judgment here is imperfect-- way imperfect. But we did the best we could with what we were shown and instructed during the trial. We did what was asked of us, and MP will serve more time and carry an additional label through his life. I know MP will finally be judged by the Lord in His full knowledge, mercy, and justice. We judged MP too softly, but his final judgment will be ultimately fair. This is my comfort.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Happy to see you!
Ginger and Janice came over last Friday after taking Kayla to stay with her dad Steve for his weekend visitation. And I finally captured one of Janice's benevolent smiles. It is difficult to capture the looks I want because by the time the camera adjusts and takes the picture, she has changed. So although I didn't get as close as I wanted and she sinks into a dark background, I got the expression I was after. I can make adjustments when I have the photo printed. Today Bob and I took a bunch of books to Half Price Books and got $28. It's amazing how many books we had. What we kept still fills shelves, but what we have are what we will read, reread, or keep for references. I have yet to go through CDs, VHS tapes, and DVDs. And more books in the back of the basement. I keep putting off the quilting and crafts sorting.
Gotta go on more errands!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Happiness is New Flooring
Years ago there was a song that started, "Happiness is two kinds of ice cream." It listed lots of things that make us happy and then concluded that happiness is really having someone to love. I've been going on and on on Facebook about how happy I am to be getting new floors on the main story of our house. But it's been a while since I made a blog entry. I had loaned my camera to my brother and got it back today, and I somehow feel it better if I have pictures in a blog entry. Then too, our computer has been in pieces for a few days while we had carpeting installed in two of the bedrooms. (Thank you, Curt LaClaire, for getting to us so quickly. We love the carpeting!) So here I am, realizing I've been so crazy over the flooring that it escaped my mind that what I am really happiest about is having a house that makes us proud to live in. So here I took a picture of our dining room, showing how the table looks with the new floor.
This is a corner of our bedroom, also with laminate flooring. It has three functions: book reading, TV watching, and falling asleep. I'm trying to eliminate the last function by setting my phone alarm to wake me if I fall asleep in the recliner. 
Here are Ginger and baby Janice enjoying the recliner together. Ginger, Janice, and Kayla came over this afternoon. Kayla spent the evening with her dad, Steve, while we hung out until it was time to pick Kayla up and take them all home to St Paul.The big gorilla in the room is my quilting and craft area. Most of the stuff is downstairs in my new craft area in boxes. But I keep finding pieces upstairs as well. After I get the upstairs in a semblance of order, I will tackle it. I will separate it into KEEP, TOSS, and GARAGE SALE. Initially, I was going to simply toss or give away, but I'm feeling up to joining the Benton Street Garage Sale next June. I have more than fabic and craft things to sell.
There is always something to look forward to!!!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
And the beat goes on, and the beat goes on. . . .
My brother Jerry is borrowing my camera, so again I have no recent pictures to offer. He is taking pictures of his apartment. He says this is probably his last picture-taking occasion, and reflected that the only photos he has taken in his adult life have been of his apartments. His taste runs toward the Victorian, and his decorations are very lovely. He once joked about the huge number of tassels in his decor. His favorite color is blue and he loves gold, ornate things. This pictures gives gives a good general view of his efficiency apartment.
When I get the camera back, I am going to take pictures of things around our house. I wished I had the camera today when Phil and Kyle pulled up the dining room carpeting. I get more excited every day! The kitchen floor is done and Phil and Kyle are working on the dining room. Turns out there were two layers of carpeting from the 70s. The top one we've lived with since we moved in is an indoor/outdoor gold, beige, and brown pattern. UGH! But it was in fairly good shape. The other carpeting is textured gold shades and has a black rubber-like backing that is sticking unevenly to the subflooring. We suppose it lumped up underneath from spills and "animal traffic." When we had "The Great P___ing Wars" with various cats we had through here over the years (And I still miss Indy, the best cat ever!), there were a couple of corners we had to go after to keep clean. PLUS, Annie The Upchucking Cat liked to do her thing by the patio door. But it was always dry, like she ate too much at once and choked out the top stuff. Not nasty or bile-laden. TMI? Sorry.
I get to go out and buy a half-circle mat for the kitchen sink area now that the new flooring is down. We can't let water sit on the laminate, and if anyone ever saw how we splash in the sink around here they would understand that a kitchen throw rug is a major necessity! I can't go out and buy it until Phil gets back with the Trailblazer. He had to get more supplies since Bob and I finally decided to put laminate in our bedroom.
I get to go out and buy a half-circle mat for the kitchen sink area now that the new flooring is down. We can't let water sit on the laminate, and if anyone ever saw how we splash in the sink around here they would understand that a kitchen throw rug is a major necessity! I can't go out and buy it until Phil gets back with the Trailblazer. He had to get more supplies since Bob and I finally decided to put laminate in our bedroom.
PHIL IS BACK!!! I think I'll run out to Target and check out their kitchen mats!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Out in the back forty. . .
Today I got a good start on our bedroom. Phil and a handy friend of his named Kyle are going to put down some new laminate flooring starting tomorrow. Both are available because they are on seasonal layoffs from their jobs. Then after they finish the living room, hallway, kitchen, and dining room, they will attack our bedroom. Anyone who knows us knows that our bedroom--the last room at the end of the hall-- has been the family catch-all since the 1970s. But that needs to change NOW. I suppose we could just re-place everything after the flooring is in, but we need to thin the crops in anticipation of our retirement in 2010 and our move to Watertown, SD.
Since I am too lazy to organize well enough for a garage sale in the summer, I will be donating and trashing a lot. If anyone reading this blog knows of something I have that you would like, ask me about it. Lots of books, some music, VHS tapes, DVDs, craft items and kits, Stampin' Up card craft stamps and paper (etc), fabric. . . .
Actually, the fabric thinning will probably take place next month when the dust is settled from the laminate installation. That is when we will clean out my sewing room, move it to the back of the basement family room, and paint and recarpet it to be a bedroom again. Bob's mother, Marian, will be moving in with us when the room is ready. She doesn't know it yet, so if you see her, don't mention it. Long story; it will just be easier all around that way.
It's kind of exciting getting things going. My long range goal is to end the projects by cleaning out the garage next spring and summer so we can park at least one of the cars--MINE--in it by next winter.
Excuse me. I have to go and talk with Phil about carrying my night stand out to the garbage since I discovered the cats have been at it. I will be kind enough not to picture or describe what has happened to it. But the preparations for new flooring in that part of our bedroom involves KILZ.
Since I am too lazy to organize well enough for a garage sale in the summer, I will be donating and trashing a lot. If anyone reading this blog knows of something I have that you would like, ask me about it. Lots of books, some music, VHS tapes, DVDs, craft items and kits, Stampin' Up card craft stamps and paper (etc), fabric. . . .
Actually, the fabric thinning will probably take place next month when the dust is settled from the laminate installation. That is when we will clean out my sewing room, move it to the back of the basement family room, and paint and recarpet it to be a bedroom again. Bob's mother, Marian, will be moving in with us when the room is ready. She doesn't know it yet, so if you see her, don't mention it. Long story; it will just be easier all around that way.
It's kind of exciting getting things going. My long range goal is to end the projects by cleaning out the garage next spring and summer so we can park at least one of the cars--MINE--in it by next winter.
Excuse me. I have to go and talk with Phil about carrying my night stand out to the garbage since I discovered the cats have been at it. I will be kind enough not to picture or describe what has happened to it. But the preparations for new flooring in that part of our bedroom involves KILZ.
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