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Angel Dolores This is a sad but inspirational story. Rhonda has been a good customer of mine over the years and we have created many wonderful poems together. (The Visionary is one of my favorites).
I also wrote one in 2001 for her Grandmother Dolores on the occasion of her 75th birthday. Sadly, Dolores passed away in January 2005 and Rhonda asked me to write a poem for her funeral. This is it.
God speed, Dolores.
(Rhonda has kindly given her permission for her poem and story to be published)
Angel Dolores
What is your name : Rhonda Huffman
Angel
Dolores
When a loved one has seen their
final sunset,
and they've taken their last
breath in this Earthly life.
How on Earth can you explain why
they had to go?
How can you measure a grandma,
a mom, a wife?
Because Dolores was someone who
was so very special,
and she simply waltzed into all
of our hearts,
and I just wanted to tell you of
my love for her,
but I'm sorry, this is one of the
more shakier starts.
You see, we all
loved grandma so very much,
in truth, we loved her with all our hearts and
soul,
and with her in our lives, we felt
complete,
yes, she was the one that made us completely
whole.
And we shared so many wonderful
times together,
in truth, there's just too many
to individually list,
but of course, everyone was
simply precious,
and there's not one that we would've
missed.
I remember the time she woke me
up by yelling,
she knew that a lay in bed was
something that I would like,
she was screaming at me to get my
stuff off the porch,
but when I got there, there was
my brand new birthday bike.
We'd play wiffle ball in the hot humid summers,
I'd have coffee with her every
morning before going to work,
and of course, we'd shop, shop,
shop (until we'd drop),
that was one job we would never
shirk.
We'd play "Shit On Your Neighbor"
for endless hours,
but apart from at cards, that was
the last thing on her mind,
because never has there been a
more gracious person,
nor one who was so thoughtful,
compassionate and kind.
I know someone remembers playing "butts up" with Grandma,
it's the sort of thing
you do when you're in the 6th grade,
Grandma never acted
her age, friends thought she was so cool,
and I know she liked the
new friends that she'd made.
Her Christmas spaghetti was
legendary,
her front bedroom was where I
spent my "time out",
she was often strict with me,
just to be kind,
she certainly taught me what love
is all about.
We'll never forget Mike and
Ronnie boxing in the backyard,
that was the same backyard where
I helped to rake the leaves,
we went shopping and then onto
lunch for my birthday,
these are the moments for which
my heart grieves.
I'll never forget the 23 years of
Christmas gifts,
and shopping at JC Penney will
never again, be the same,
I think I'll wear her favorite
green and pink shirt,
I might even wear it to a
basketball game.
Because I remember her coaching
us as kids,
we played against the parents at
the boys club,
I can't quite remember the score
after all these years,
but I do recall we gave our
parents quite a drub.
I remember Ma
insisting, against my mother's wishes,
at my wedding, I should have
salami on the meat trays,
she certainly taught me to stand
up for myself,
but I'm grateful to her in so
many other ways.
When I was a kid, I was scared of
that curtain rod,
because with it, she'd chase me
out from under the bed,
and every year, she'd retell the
story of my birth,
so now, everybody has heard
that tale (so it's been said).
She taught me how
to shop for and cook spaghetti & meatballs,
we went
to the Feather Club for dinner on my birthday,
she always knew what you
needed and it was often very simple,
and that one line leaves
so much left to say:
Because she and Grandpa
drove all night across the desert,
just to get to grandparents day
at the kid's school,
they ended up with their pictures
in the newspaper,
(and never did two desert duelers
ever look so cool!)
She loved to go "commando" when shopping (inside joke),
and Misty and Snickers are her
two dogs that she lived for,
she loved sports, the Boston
Celtics and Larry Byrd,
she is the rock of our family
(and will be for evermore).
She was from Rockford, she was an
awesome bowler,
Swedish heritage but became an
Italian through and through,
she was proud of her large family
(she was an only child),
and all twenty eight
say: "Dolores, we're very proud of you"
She was and is a truly amazing woman,
it was her warmth that melded
this family together,
she has given us all so many
wonderful values
and I'm sure that those will live
on, within us, forever.
She has many lifelong friends of
50 and 70 plus years,
and all are very grateful for the
friendship that she gave,
and I think if she were here
today, she'd probably say:
"What's the matter with you? Why are looking so grave?"
Because she always said "be
tough" and don't be a sissy,
but grandmother, forgive us all,
because we're going to cry,
when someone so special has to
answer God's call,
well, you just can't stop the
tears (and I'm not even go to try).
Because we are who we
are because of my grandma ,
more than once, she's been there
for me in my hours of need,
and what's more, she's been much
more than a grandma ,
she's been our rock and she's
been a true friend indeed.
But no earthbound story can last
forever,
because if we're good, we'll
all find the heavens above,
and now we imagine
Dolores, on her cloud, on her star,
still looking down on us,
showering us all, with her love.
And please don't think that she's
not here with us,
she's alive and well, her spirit
lives on, inside of us all,
and I think it's quite simple,
her work on Earth was done,
and it was just time for Angel
Dolores to answer her call.
Copyright Allen Jesson :) 2005
Rhonda kindly replied:
"Hi Allen, once again you have done an amazing job of creating a story of Dolores. There are a few things I would like to change. I want this poem to be more from our family rather than me. we always called her Grandma and Mom as mother and grandmother were too formal. These were ideas that I had too fit my ideas. Let me know, if you have any others. (CHANGED IN 2nd DRAFT. ED). You did an utterly awesome job of putting all of those individual thoughts together! Thanks!
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