by Ira Wollen
Just take my word for it,
If you will lean a little more to the left as you search upward,
And look as far to the right as your eyesight might,
In the white clouds you will see Him,
Maybe not exactly as you expected,
Unlike anything you thought, or been taught,
but He is there,
Watching, and listening to
Each little bit of it,
What ever you might imagine happening
At the particular moment it happens,
He knows about it,
What does He do with all that He sees and hears?
Oh, well I guess He files them all into the most enormous
Computer you could think of,
Maybe to wonder about later
When there is a little more while.
And if you would like to speak with Him about something that happened?
Do as I showed you, leaning and looking and all,
And simply speak,
Ask Him anything about anything,
You will definitely hear His answer,
I myself guarantee it,
You may even get to see Him smile.
This is a personal favorite of mine from the POETRY COLLECTION of my stepfather, IRA WOLLEN, who celebrated his birthday last November 3. It was also his (and my mother's) wedding anniversary.
Happy Birthday, Ira, and Happy Anniversary to you and Mom!
And while on the subject of birthdays, someone else's is coming pretty soon...
My little boy, Lance, is not-so-little anymore. Come Saturday, November 12, he will be turning SIX!
It's hard to believe how far my little preemie has come. Before they went off-track, his homeroom teacher, Mrs. Bray, informed us that Lance, one of the few remaining five-year-olds in first grade, will be joining the second-grade reading class when he goes back to school in December!
She also told us during our parent-teacher conference that she has had to separate our son from the rest of the class during Math quizzes. At first, Lance thought he was being punished, but Mrs. Bray explained to him that she had to do it because too many kids were copying from him!
These are words that any parent would love to hear, and they are the best birthday present we could ever ask for. So, to reward him for all his hard work, Mommy and Daddy are giving Lance a big birthday party on Saturday, with a Spiderman bounce house and a special appearance by Twinkles and Snickers, the clowns!
My son is beside himself with anticipation, insisting on helping me with all of the party details. He even chose his own cake, a Star Wars chocolate creation with strawberry ice cream filling, and topped with the piece-de-resistance, a Darth Vader voice converter.
Yes, he still enjoys his toys, and yes, he still fights his little brother for possession of the last balloon left floating from last night's kid's meal at Denny's, and yes, he still drives me crazy at times.
Okay, all of the time.
But he is also big enough to watch his baby sister while Mommy takes a shower, and he is old enough to set his brother up for nightly tooth-brushing sessions just fine. He can also pick and choose his own outfits like the best of them. And he can tie his own shoelaces, both bunny-ears and rocket-style.
Yes, my little boy is on his way, but thank goodness he doesn't seem to be in any particular rush to get there. It's just as well.
Sometimes, even Mommies need to take baby steps too!
