Zelda Davidson (Part Three)

*A photograph of Zelda’s In-Laws (Rhoda and Owen Marley)*

Many of us have fond memories of Zelda. She was a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend. She was loved by many and those are the stories I’ve heard, and so it was with great interest that I found this poem. It brings with it the chance to see the world through the eyes of another, to see the world at a simpler time.

I cherish the opportunity to look back through history and hope that you will as well.

(Written in 1978) This poem is titled “Remember”

“I remember…..

Overalls and aprons, chuckles and smiles,

Letters and cards across the miles.

A necklace and flowers, I remember that

And a fishing pole and a stained old hat.

Biscuits fat and cookies baking,

Potatoes fried and gravy making.

Holiday feasts prepared with care.

Families together and family prayer.

An iron bed and quilts hand-sewn

By tireless hands that I have known.

Weathered walls and chimney black

And a creaking board in the house out back.

The smell of apples, the smell of flowers,

The smell of fields after the showers.

Cows in the barn, milk in the pail,

In spite of the rain, in spite of the gale.

A look at old photos or playing a few games.

The fire’s warm. Who cares if it rains!

‘Round the piano, let’s have a tune,

And voices blended filling the room.

Children climbing up to the loft,

Quarrels and giggles and whispers soft.

Time for the kids, patient and kind.

A living legacy-ties that bind.

Going to the folks/ in spite of the snow,

Leaving the car in the road below.

Horses steaming before the sleigh,

Coats pulled close on a frosty day.

Up at dawn when the alarm clock rings,

Summers and winters and falls and springs.

Work for the living, work for the dead,

Work for love and work for bread.

Year into year-reaping the sowing,

Muscles tightening and minds that are growing.

Joy abounding and faith unbounded,

Lives in the Gospel firmly founded.

Work stained shirts and Sunday best,

Daily bread and a baby blessed.

Go to the church for meetings and choir.

Time will come later to sit by the fire.

Trips to the cemetary sometime in May.

Seems it was always a cold, gray day.

Raking and weeding forlorn ground

Flowers placed on a dim, cold mound

Departed loved ones remembered anew

And long gone faces recalled by a few.

Getting together at the farm, after.

Visiting, feasting, squabbles and laughter.

Dimming ears and dimmer eyes

But loving hands hold fast the ties

Of family and friends and anyone caring

To enter the circle of their sharing.

Laughing and loving and crying together.

Creating the bonds that will last forever.

These are my memories, glad, not sad.

There are the memories of Rhoda and Dad.

These are my memories of golden years,

Drowning the sorrow and drying the tears.

For there is more joy than we’ve ever known,

But they know now…. for they are home.”

Zelda Davidson (Part Two)