One thing my Mother taught through word and deed was that no matter what comes your way, you must go on. She faced many trials, made ends meet with meager supplies, managed a tribe of kids, wore many hats, and encouraged our individualism. She also taught us the principle of priorities. Each day I am reminded that life is short.
This is a true story, written in verse, of an event in her young life that spoke of staunch survivalism on the open prairies of Montana. I believe that God called her name that day and gave her the determination to survive the storm. “You must go on!” – and she did time and again….
My Aunt & my Mother
Bundled against the wind,
they sent her on her way.
She headed off to school
on that blustery day.
Braced against the onslaught,
wind whipped the blinding snow.
No longer did she see her way –
her distance she did not know.
Icy fingers beckoned her,
drawing her from the path.
She heard voices in the wind,
but ‘twas only the blizzard’s wrath.
She wanted to turn aside,
tired from the storm.
Yet she knew that just over the hill
she would find a fire warm.
Guided by an unseen hand,
urged by a rising voice,
“You must not stop, you must go on.”
There was no other choice.
Pressed to the wind she turned to see
the one who spoke her name.
It was her father’s face she sought –
she thought the storm he’d tame.
“I was not with you child,”
he said as he heard her tale.
He took her in his arms
and stroked her face, so pale.
“A miracle from heaven,”
is all that I can say
for it was her father’s voice
that led her on that day.
Guided by an unseen hand,
urged by a rising voice,
“You must not stop, you must go on.”
Let that be your choice.
sa 2012
Urged by her father’s voice that she heard on the wind, she made it to the neighbor’s house. It was there he found her warm and safe from the storm.
My Aunt & my Mother