Mom,
I miss you when I’m happy
I miss you when I’m sad
but I’m forever grateful for
the precious time we had.
On Mother’s Day, as always
I’ll think of you in prayer
’cause if there is a heaven
I know that you are there.
❤
Category: Poetry
The Bitter and the Sweet
I thought that I was coming home
Heart skipped with childish glee
I longed to to see my pretty mom
We’d catch up with mugs of tea
Heart skipped with childish glee
Yes, dad would be there too
We’d catch up with mugs of tea
Like we always used to do
Yes, dad would be there too
We would have so much to tell
Like we always used to do
When they were strong and well
We would have so much to tell
Of both the bitter and the sweet
Since they were strong and well
And our family was complete
Of both the bitter and the sweet
But the real world intervened
A stab in the heart under the sheet —
Just another errant dream.
This was my attempt at a Pantoum Poem, a poetic rhyme scheme style from Malaysia.
For My Mother
Reblogging my post from a year ago. This is the first anniversary of our mother’s passing, and a difficult year it was. You are always in my heart, Mom x
Friday Pick 44 – a Reblog
Hello, Friends and Followers. A dear and close member of my husband’s
family has suddenly become very ill and is currently fighting for her life in ICU. Because of this, I have not been able to focus on my novel-writing, or my blog recently.
So I thought I would share with you something that made my day on March 29th: one of my favourite bloggers, Diana Schwenk, chose my blog as her Friday Pick for that week. I was beyond flattered when she posted this. I suggest you check out her inspiring blog; you won’t be disappointed.
Jennifer x
She’s real with a heart full of love and has inspired me many times to want to be a better person. Jennifer is also very interactive and this appeals to my “community building” nature. That’s why I follow Jennifer at Jennifer’s Journal. I hope you will have a look and I’m sure you will agree that Jennifer is worth a second look and a click on the follow button!
In her own words, Jennifer says:
Looking back on my blog after its first year, I can safely say that my Journal’s overall theme has turned out to be one of Love, more specifically, the sharing of what I love or have loved in my life, with you. Two years ago my husband and I got out of the city and returned to rural life in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Our hope is to continue living life simply…
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The Liebster Award and Sharing the Love
Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to learn my blog has been nominated for the Liebster Award, by Alessia and Fabrizio, the authors of a lovely blog I’ve been recently following, Maple&Saffron.
Thank you, Alessia and Fabrizio! I recommend for my readers to check out this wonderful cooking and travel blog, by a couple who have immigrated to Canada from a country I adore, Italy.
Here are the rules for this award:
- When you receive the award, you post 11 random facts about yourself and answer 11 questions from the person who nominated you.
- Pass the award onto 11 other blogs (make sure you tell them you nominated them!) and ask them 11 questions.
- You are not allowed to nominate the blog who nominated you!
- Make sure the blogs you choose have 200 or less followers ( I did the best I could with this, but sorry, I might’ve cheated on some).
Okay, time to get down to business. Here are my random facts:
- I have the worst handwriting of anybody I know. Good thing I can type well.
- I am eight months younger than my husband.
- I have one older brother and one younger sister. And you know what they say about the middle child.
- Being in nature calms my spirit.
- I have a cat figurine collection.
- There is a sandy beach 25 yards from our front door.
- I like a good joke and a thoughtful quote, some of the reasons I still use Facebook.
- I feel more comfortable in small groups, or just one on one conversation.
- I can’t imagine a life without pets.
- I worked in a bank for about 15 years.
- I consider my daughter and my son my most significant contributions to this world.
Maple&Saffron ask:
- If you were to leave for a trip in 5 minutes, what are the 3 things you’d take with you? An easy one, if we are talking living things and a long trip: my husband and our two cats. If not, my iPad, straightening iron, and camera.
- What instrument have you ever wanted to learn to play? The piano. The guitar is a close second (tried three times but never stuck with it ).
- Which recipe do you really love cooking? Not exactly a single recipe, but a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
- What’s your favourite song when you’re travelling? Hmm..only one? That’s hard. Life Is A Highway? 🙂
- You’ve just landed in Italy: what’s the first dish you wish to taste? Any kind of pasta! Or maybe margherita pizza..
- Mountains, hilltops or beaches: where would you go on vacation? Anywhere is fine with me if the weather is nice, and it’s not too crowded
- What’s the best thing about your country? Lots of open spaces and open minds
- How do you like spending your day off? Getting outdoors for a walk or a hike, or sitting on our deck in the summer
- What’s your favourite world cuisine? Italian
- If you could only save one of your books, which one would you choose? One of my poetry anthologies
- What role/part would you like to play in a movie? Another tough one, but I went with Ripley in Alien.
Here are my nominations, lovely blogs on some of my favourite topics. For those of you nominated who don’t do awards or don’t have time to participate, please know that I understand. For those who do, thank you for participating. Your questions to answer are after the nominations list.
Welcome to my Mind, Pull up a Chair
- What is your favourite book genre to read?
- How long have you been blogging and what made you start?
- Name your favourite meal.
- If you could go anywhere in the world on your next vacation, where would you go?
- What is your most prized possession?
- What is your favourite way to relax?
- If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
- Which do you prefer: music, TV, or theatre?
- What movie did you see in the past year that you liked?
- Who is the most important person in your life?
- What are you most passionate about in life?
My First Anniversary…and Ten Things I Didn’t Know When I Started
One year ago today, on New Year’s Eve, 2011, I started this blog, Jennifer’s Journal. And as I mentioned in the very first post, Follow the Yellow Brick Road, I had no idea where my blog would take us. So here is what I found out.
1. I didn’t know I would have the resolve to faithfully post to my blog a little more than once a week on average. WordPress, being the best blogging site – in my opinion – had a lot to do with my enthusiasm.
2. I didn’t know I would be taking my visitors and followers on a pictorial journey of our 2011 trip to Italy and France. Nor did I know that one of these installments,
“Scenes From Italy – Part Three: Siena and Florence, Tuscany” would consistently be my most visited post, from all around the world!
3. I hadn’t made plans yet to take a Spring vacation in Florida, with my husband and my daughter and her family. My photo album from that trip,
“For the Young, & the Young at Heart: Disney’s Magic Kingdom“, would garner a record of 449 views on May 8th, the most views I had in one day.
4. I wasn’t fully aware of how beautiful it actually is where I live, here in Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, until I read your lovely comments on my local photographic efforts. 🙂 “Autumn Walk on the East Coast” was a particular favourite.
5. I came to learn how the poems, musings, and photographs of my grandchildren would be a popular subject for many!
6. That goes for the posts of my little cats, Maisie and Vivian, as well. One of them even guest-posted in “Vivian’s View From Here“.
7. I was overwhelmed with the outpouring of support my blog received, as I was losing my mother. I cannot fully express what a source of comfort those caring comments were, and still are.
8. I didn’t know I was going to publish sixteen of my poems, and that I would be proud of them. 🙂
9. I wasn’t sure (but I am pleased I did) that I would keep my resolution to start writing a novel, and am now starting Chapter Six of the first draft. My post about it, Then You Must Write It, would be one my most popular blog posts, generating many of your comments.
10. Novel writing or not, I love my blog as the vehicle of self-expression it has turned out to be, and I will continue to update it in 2013. Connecting with many of you and making new friends is one of the best advantages of blogging.
So, let me say to all of my followers and visitors from sixty-six countries, a GIANT THANK YOU! And a Happy New Year to you all. 🙂
“Life Means All That It Ever Meant”
The past few years have taken our mother on a difficult journey, and our family right along with her.
Mercifully, she finally succumbed to her illness last week, and
we were able to say our goodbyes as she entered into her eternal rest.
I found this poem that speaks of my sweet mother’s lifelong attitude of pragmatism and hope. Somehow it gives me strength and reassurance, reminding me how lucky I was to have known and loved this woman who was my mother.
All Is Well
Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away to the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other,
That we are still.
That we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
which you always used.
Put no difference in your tone,
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was,
Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was,
There is absolute, unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you,
for an interval.
for an interval.
Somewhere very near.
Just around the corner.
All is well.
Henry Scott Holland
1847-1918
Cat’s Eye
She is solitary,
silent as a spectre,
outside on another tentative
feline adventure.
On soft freckled pads, with
green eyes ever searching,
she sees, hears, smells the world
the way it is. Its cold reality.
Her white whiskered face
suddenly feral and hungry, she
runs, returns home to the warm lap
she has grown to trust.
No longer silent, but with rattling purrs,
she nuzzles and exchanges
a sandpaper kiss for the expected
morsel of love.
In that little Cat’s eye
that sees my soul and stares into
my heart
there is nowhere to hide.
I see my reflection.
Jennifer's Journal 
