Decades ago when I was a mere youth

I remember my Mother, her given name was Ruth

A simple woman born of the dry Kansas plains       

Always ready to sooth our many fears and our pains

I was blessed with two sisters named Cindi and Pat

One older, one younger living in a two story flat 

  Our father was a kind man who loved Ruth above all

He worked hard and drank a bit as I often recall

We lived from payday to payday, father’s job always in question

We felt lucky all the same, always reminded of the great depression

Many years would go by before I would come to fully realize

The sacrifices that my Mother made so my dreams might crystallize

She passed from this earth before I could thank her for caring

Too busy was I, too caught up in life and corporate profit sharing

   Now as my life nears its end I think back to those wonderful years

I see her smiling face as she wipes away childhood tears

I reach out to touch her as if to somehow make amends

      But the vision fades from view and the moment quickly ends

Lessons learned in this life are many and hard to accept

Ruth is 30 years gone and so many times for her I’ve wept

©Copyright Charlie Gragg July 23, 2010