A Wife’s Prayer

A Wife’s Prayer …
By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

The most Special Person in my Life … my Husband

Being grateful for many things I have become
Never taking for granted even one
Here today … it all could be gone tomorrow

Life changes fast … sometimes, good things last
Sometimes, they go away as fast as they came into our lives
For now, I’m thankful for the little extra things we have in life

We’ve done without so long … I don’t know how long this will last
Things don’t come easily anymore … not without blood, sweat, tears
We aren’t as young as we used to be when the world was ours

Sickness, medical problems, doctors … took everything
Made it difficult to spring back to having it good once again in life
So now, we are happy with what comes our way

He works hard for his age doing something he has never done
Never knew he’d have to ever do … his body older, not as strong
There should be a time of rest, and relaxation for a man

A man who has worked hard in his life … a time to go fishing
Do the things he has always wanted to do
A time of happiness over the simplest things

I know a man who never knows anything but, hard work
No matter how sick he gets, how bad he feels
There’s never no rest for his weary bones, he’ll work until he dies

My wish for him is that he’ll win a lottery, come into big money
So, he can do all the simple things he wishes to do
When the time came to retire … he couldn’t

In today’s time … an older man will go to his grave
Never getting the chance to know what it feels like
To rest, know the pleasure of waking up … retired

It breaks my Heart because I know one man who deserves it
Yet, he can’t stop … there’s work to be done, bills to pay
There’s no rest for this older man … he’ll work until he dies

He works hard, treats people good … makes up for any mistakes
He has ever made in his life … this man deserves the best
Yet, Life has dealt him a rough hand to play out

I hope, pray that now, at this time in his life
He has a good hand to play … one that will make the rest of his life
A pleasure … to wake up each day

Maybe go fishing … go to a museum, or a movie
Not worry about how the bills will be paid
I pray the Lord to help my Husband find rest, relaxation

Find it soon at this time in his life
Let his tired body, mind know how it feels to be completely rested
Let his smiles be from happiness inside his Heart

I pray the Lord to keep
My Husband safe, and sound
Give him a good life now … to know the pleasures of older life

I close my eyes to go to sleep
With a soft smile on my lips
I believe … Lord … that my prayer will come true

Thank you Lord from my Heart
For this good man who has cared for me
Cared for me through illness, and good health

He is my soulmate, my best Friend
I love him with my very Heart
He and our two Pups … are my whole world

I’ve known true love, caring
For many years with this man
I’ve been blessed, fortunate … Thank you, God

He put my needs, wants before his
Cared for my feelings with his Heart
I’ve never known such pure love in this Life

I’ve been blessed, fortunate … Thank you, God
Thank you for my Pups, Special Husband
No matter how good, bad Life has been … he has been by my side

I am getting older now … I’m not alone
Thank you, God for blessing me
Giving me my Husband all these years … at this time in my Life

I’ve been blessed, fortunate … Thank you, God
For my Husband, Protector, Best Friend
I pray you’ll hear my prayers to make the rest of his Life

Easier … to know how it feels to rest
To rest his body … his mind, his soul
Know how it feels to be happy every day of his life

Without working himself into his grave
Thank you, Lord from my very Heart
This is my prayer for my Husband. Amen

Photos/Poem owned by Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

He Pulled A Rabbit Out Of The Hat…

He Pulled A Rabbit Out Of The Hat…

By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee… 2013

 

She sat there, stunned.  No, stunned wasn’t the word.  She was in ‘pure’ shock.  Devastated.  What was going to happen to their dogs?  They were their babies, their life.  They were the only family they had left in their life.  Her only child had died three years ago… she had no one left in her life… only her husband, and three dogs.

 

She and her husband were traveling down the road.  Her husband was driving.  His cellphone rang… it was the call he’d been expecting.  He was smiling as he pressed the button on his bluetooth, his hands-free device for his cellphone.

 

He spoke pleasantly into his phone, his face was smiling.  The call he expected, was from a man who had hired him to work locally, making very good money.  He was happy, he could stay close to home, his wife, his dogs.  It meant the world to him.

 

He’d already met the man… both instantly liked each other.  The man called him over the next several days… and they met again for her husband to give him his driving record, and such.

 

His driving record was perfect… he was a good driver.  Not only that, he was good with customers… he’d worked in management… so, he knew how to talk to anyone.

 

She sensed something was wrong… it was taking her husband too long to answer.  She looked over at him… instantly felt sick to her stomach.  Something’s wrong… why does her husband look like that!

 

Her husband had been driving long-distance for so long… he just wanted to be home.  He’d begun having fears that he might not see home again.

 

He told her that he didn’t mind telling anyone that he loved being home, loved being with his wife, loved his dogs.  Not only that, he loved to be home in the evenings to drink tea, and watch his favorite tv shows.

 

This new job meant that his dream to be home … was coming true.  Both felt such happiness, relief.  He’d been out of work for over a month… and they had been having such a hard time.

 

Bills needed to be paid… groceries needed to be bought… gas was expensive.  Pups needed food… they also, had to buy water by the gallon… they couldn’t drink the water from the tap at their home.

 

Not only that… rent needed to be paid.  Thankfully, the man they rented their house from… understood.  He was a good man… in fact, he encouraged her husband to come home, get off the road.  The man was their friend, also.  He worried about her husband… he knew she worried about her husband.

 

So, now… that was the reason he was on the phone.  He’d been hired to drive… and the man was calling him to talk to him about the details.

 

She saw the smile slip off her husband’s face, heard his voice tell the man, that he understood.  Her husband’s voice was pleasant, though she knew something was ‘bad’… wrong.  He pushed the button on the bluetooth, to turn the cellphone off.

 

“He can’t hire anyone right now… the insurance company is investigating … to do with one of his trucks burning up.  He can’t hire anyone until it’s over, done with.  He has only the one driver and himself to drive… and if his other driver quit now… he’d be ruint… because he can’t hire anyone right now.  He said he hates to tell good people bad news.

 

She sat there… went into a shock.  She felt her husband do the same.  Her hands went to her face… she couldn’t bear this.  Where would their dogs go… they were going to lose everything.  She didn’t care about herself… just where would her dogs go?  She began… crying.

 

Her husband drove home in shock.  He couldn’t even speak.  He felt bad for his wife.  They got out of the vehicle in silence… both went into the gate, closing… locking it behind them.  They both reached out to pet their 3 dogs as they walked up the steps, onto the porch… opened the door, entered the house.

 

She stopped, turned to him, said to him in a soft voice, “Oh God, what are we going to do, what are we going to do?  Where will our dogs go… who can care for them like we do”?

 

In a quiet voice, he told her not to worry… their dogs weren’t going anywhere, and they’d be cared for by only them.  He told her everything was going to be alright.  He would show her.

 

She felt faint… she held onto the chair as she walked by it.  She couldn’t take anymore.  They were at rock-bottom… how in the world could they come up now.

 

They were like a hot-air balloon… sitting on the ground… what in the world could make it rise back up in the air?  What?

 

She did something she rarely ever did… she only did such a thing when ‘the world came to an end’ for her.  She walked to the bedroom, opened the closet door… reached for her nightgown.

 

She put it on, hung her clothes up.  She walked out into the hall where she met her husband… she softly said, “I am going to put me into bed… I’m no good to you, or to me right now… I can’t function anymore… I am going to bed”.  She turned, went to the bed… pulled her covers back… turned on her electric blanket.  She was so cold.

 

Instantly, the bed shook as three dogs jumped up on the bed with her.  They all found their places beside her, promptly snuggled up to her.  Her husband walked to the door… talked to her.  She told him she was so sorry… she wasn’t any good to anyone right now.  She said in a quiet voice, “You’ve always pulled a rabbit out of the hat… please pull a rabbit out of the hat, now”.

 

She heard her husband say in a quiet voice, “I’ll pull a rabbit of the hat, you’ll see.  Everything’s going to be alright.  I’ll be back in a little while”.

 

He left… she fell asleep surrounded by the dogs she loved with her very heart.  As she fell asleep to get away from all the grief, pain in her heart… she reached out to touch her babies.  They were all she had… them and her husband.

 

She began praying, asking God for a miracle.  She knew many miracles had happened in her life… she asked for one more.  She asked for a good job for her husband, one he could be happy at… one here at home.  As she fell alseep, she prayed that she, her husband, and dogs never be apart… and for all to be alright.  As she drifted to sleep… she thanked God for all she had.

 

She laid on the big bed… surrounded by three dogs who knew her as their ‘Mommy’.  They snuggled close, tight to her… they knew something was wrong… they sensed she needed them close to her.  They needed… her.

 

“I have good news, I got a job!”  She became aware of her husband’s voice… it sounded happy.  She woke up, sat up in bed… the dogs jumped up to be petted by her husband.

 

He began to tell her how he went to a friend of theirs, talked to him.  He didn’t need anyone right now.  He told her how instead of turning to go in the direction he always went… to come home… he went straight.

 

He drove until… he saw his friend’s truck in the distance.  It was parked in front of his house.  He drove up, parked behind it.  His friend and his wife, and sister came out when they saw him park.

 

His friend asked him what was he doing.  Her husband told him he was looking for a job… that he’d tried to retire but, there wasn’t enough money to retire.

 

His friend said his company was looking for a good, experienced driver.  Her husband had worked for that company many years ago… that’s where he had met his friend.

 

His friend called the company… told them he thought he’d found somebody.  He put the man on speakerphone, and he remembered her husband… her husband remembered him.

 

It was a good conversation.  He told her husband to call on Monday, and that he would have him come there with another driver to pick up a truck.  Also, he’d be taking a drug test, and all the things he needed to do.

 

She began to cry softly… when she finally looked up… it seemed everything felt ‘alive’ once again.  She had completely stopped living for a little while… she looked into her husband’s eyes.  They were happy… his voice was happy.  He would be going to work with people he knew… who knew him.  She felt happiness in her heart… she said quietly, “You pulled a rabbit out of the hat!”

 

She quietly thanked God inside her heart… he’d sent them a miracle at the most crucial time… a better one than the one that came with good promises… left as quickly…  like a tornado blowing in, tearing everything up… leaving all laying in pieces… as it blew away.

 

She had lost faith in everything… so many bad things had happened in her life… in their life.  So many miracles had happened in their life… always restoring hope again.  This was one of those rare times, when she gave up… knowing there wasn’t any hope left… only to be lifted back up by her husband.  He ‘pulled a rabbit out of the hat’.

 

Something Bad Could Have Happened… Sweet Chadwick Escaped

Something Bad Could Have Happened… Sweet Chadwick Escaped

By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

 

 

 

He ran like the wind, he didn’t hear the voice calling him to please come back.  He ran toward the open field near by, stopped… turned to look back.

 

He saw her standing at the gate… he saw pain on her face.  He couldn’t stop… this was his chance!  He turned his back on her as he heard her cry again.  “Please come back, please come back”!

 

He ran toward the trees, down the bank… into the highway.  He could hear someone crying behind him.  Please come back, the woman cried.  He turned for a moment to look at her… no matter how much he loved her… the pull to run was too strong.

 

He ran down the side of the highway, into the front yard of their home.  He laid down on the grass, rolled… got up, ran to the highway.  He heard the woman cry out to him… he heard the sound of a car coming fast.  He didn’t know which way to go!

 

Just as he began to cross the road, he felt something push him back!  The woman saw him suddenly leave the road, saw his hair flattened out from the force of the wind.  The car never slowed down as it passed.

 

He soon forgot about the car… ran like the wind.  He ran all around, never leaving the sight of the woman.  Her shoulders fell, tears fell down her face.  She turned, went inside the gate…

 

She went into the house, opened the refrigerator, took a cooked hamburger patty out.  Outside, she went… she saw him.  She began talking to him, telling him she had something good for him.

 

He ran down the length of the fence, neared the gate.  He smelled the hamburger, followed it.  The gate opened just enough, he followed the hamburger until he was safely inside.

 

The woman looked at him… told him she shouldn’t even give him that hamburger for upsetting her like that.  She looked down into his face, smiled… looked up to the sky.  She thanked God that he was safe.

 

She looked around her, at the other two.  These three Pups, her husband… Skip, were her whole world.  She almost lost one of them, because she was careless at the gate to their fence.  She felt weak from relief, from being so grateful he was safely back inside.

 

Chadwick… Sweet Chadwick, the ‘Wick-Wick’, their yellow Pup had escaped for about ten minutes.  He ran like the wind, rolled in the grass, felt freedom for a short time.  He came back to his fence… he wanted to be home where he was loved, protected, cared for.  He wanted his family around him… he knew them.  He didn’t ‘know out here’.

 

Gloria leaned over, took his sweet face, kissed it.  The other two Pups, Camie and Kissy… ran to be kissed, too!  She kissed them all, hugged them, and thanked God they were safe.

 

Something bad could have happened… when Chadwick escaped.

 

 

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She Closed Her Eyes… Tried To Die Again

 

She Closed Her Eyes… Tried To Die Again

By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

 

 

Young Granny Gee/Gloria

 

 

She sat on the floor, scissors in hand

The photo album lay on her lap

Memories looked up from the pages

She couldn’t see for the tears

 

Seven years of her young life were wasted

It’s come to this, it was time to let go

Time to say goodbye, she couldn’t take anymore

She took the last of the pills, drank the glass empty

 

Her shoulders shook with her sobs

Tears flowed on the photos of happy faces

From a face that was far from happy

Death was near, waiting for her to fall asleep

 

Death would claim her, take her away

To a place she’d never come back from

It’s the end… she couldn’t bear life anymore

He did that to her… his love killed her

 

He put a young girl out in the countryside

Forgot her as he went on to live, play

She sat there day after day… all alone

No one to talk to, no one around

 

He’d come home to tell her about his fun

He was having every day; he’d get up, leave

Never looking back to see what he’d done

Each time he left, he took more of her life

 

He was her world, he’d made her dependent on him

There wasn’t anyone else in it… she was alone

When he became bored, he left to play

The home became a box he kept her in

 

Put up until he came back, decided he wanted to play

With her… she was his personal possession

He wouldn’t share her with the world

He kept her shut up in … darkness

 

She could walk outside

But, in her mind she was in a prison

She couldn’t go anywhere, unless she walked

No town for many miles away

 

She cried, beat her head against the wall

Just a young girl who loved life

Yet, life was taken from her

Taken was the spark in her eyes, smile from her face

 

She became the living dead, having to feel

Pain every day of her young life

If she was dead… she didn’t want to feel pain

Let Death come embrace her in its arms

 

She could close her eyes in peace

No more torment, no more lies

No more being alone, no one to hear her cries

As her eyes became unfocused, she saw a happy smile

 

On the photo in her hand, she cut it into tiny pieces

The pieces fell onto a bigger pile in between her legs

Where she sat in the middle of the floor

Her legs Indian-style, her head bowed

 

She sat there until she slowly … fell forward

Her hands relaxed, the scissors fell

She became conscious for a moment

Enough to gently fall to the carpeted floor

 

Death came, looked at her

Death turned its head this way, that way

Even Death has a heart, sometimes… it won’t take

A young life away, especially this young girl’s

 

She’s only lived sixteen years, has seen only hell

Now, she’d been put up in a box, the lid closed

Her home, her box… was nice, clean, pretty

There was only sadness, unhappiness here

 

Death decided to play with her

Let her come to just enough to let her move

Without being aware, she crawled a little ways

Toward the door, somehow managed to push it open

 

She lay still once again, came to enough to crawl out on the porch

Her body lay there, she was dead

No thoughts went through her head, she didn’t know she moved

It crawled once again, fell off the porch onto the ground

 

She lay in the darkness of Death

Pain began to get to her mind, though she didn’t recognize

It for what it was… her eyes began to flutter, light seeped in

She lay there, couldn’t move

 

She opened her eyes slowly, saw grass

As sensation crept back into her body, the pain became stronger

She still didn’t know its name

She heard someone crying… she heard that pain

 

Crying from the very depths of one’s soul

She began to realize it was herself

Crying because she loved with her heart

She’d never felt so alone… no one to care for her

 

She was still a child, ran away too young to marry

Always lived in town life… never like this

Never without adults around, never mind how they treated her

She closed her eyes… tried to die again

 

No thoughts, she was gone again… held in Death’s arms

Death looked at her, felt for her

He looked at her pretty, young face red from grief, pain

Still wet with tears… she was beautiful in death

 

Let her come back once more to see what she’d do

She again became aware of something touching her skin

Her hand slid across the grass to her face

Touched her cheek, felt the breeze gently blow, dry her tears

 

I want to get up, I want to live

Her body didn’t move, only her eyes did

The white clouds in the sky … the blue, blue sky

Green grass in front of her eyes

 

Pain, stinging pain over her body

What could it be… a thought came into her mind

Ants were stinging her back to life

Coaxing her to get up, get up… it’s time to live

 

Her body wouldn’t move, it was heavy

Death had almost claimed her, gave her a break

Held her in its arms, looked down into her face

I’ll let you live… who knows what life’ll bring your way

 

Death released its grip a little more, the young girl began to move

She was trying to get up off the ground

Her body fell back once again… too much effort

She felt sick… she remembered the bottle of pills

 

Too weak, she laid on the ground

Her mind became stronger, I want to get up!

Death smiled at her in a gentle way… she’s fought hard

To live, even while she tried to die

 

She sat up, felt sick to her soul, I’m too tired to live

It was easier to fall back to the ground

She looked at the grass, laid back down

She closed her eyes… tried to die again

 

 

 

 

My 9-11 Poem… I Have To Remember… Because I Must

 

(My 9-11 Poem)

 

I Have To Remember… Because I Must
Written By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

Grief in my heart… tears in my eyes

I think even God can hear my cries

So much death that day, grief fills my heart
That’s the day… families were torn apart

I just walked down my Memory Hall
Closing these doors, I can’t bear this at all

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
I have to remember, because… I must

No one should be forgotten in this event
What they went through, the day terror was sent

I don’t only cry for myself
I cry for the 9-11 families that are left

To carry their burden of grief, pain
Just as I carry mine… the same

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
I have to remember, because… I must

 

 

 

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Maybe It’s The Hell I Saw Raised…

Maybe It’s The Hell I Saw Raised…

By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

 

My beautiful mother as a young woman… it was always said she was the most beautiful woman around.  She always looked like Elizabeth Taylor.  I always wanted to grow up to be as beautiful as her……………………….

 

 

 

We’ve been sitting here watching Medea movies… and I’m going to have to tell you… I have laughed so much.

 

Do you know my favorite parts?  It’s when someone tells Madea she can’t make them do something… or is awful to her.  I love it, when out of the blue… she ‘shows them a thing or two’!

 

For instance, she put her foster daughter on the school bus, told the kids on the bus that they‘d better leave her alone.  One defiant boy said, ‘what you going to do about it, old lady’?  She whipped up on his head in a split second.  She gave him what he needed.  I loved it!

 

I love to see a bully get some of their medicine back.  I believe in an eye for an eye… if you hurt somebody… then, you need to feel it back.  What do you think?  Would people ‘dish it out’…if they knew what they dished out… was most definitely coming back to them?

 

Maybe it’s the hell I saw raised as a child, when people were treated unfairly because they weren’t strong enough to fight for themselves.  Maybe it’s that I don’t like bullies, don’t like people who try to be the boss… because they know how to intimidate, they are stronger.

 

Whatever it is… I ‘pure love it’ when a bully ‘gets it’.  I love it when mean people who mistreat others… ‘get it’.   I can’t bear for people or animals to be mistreated, harmed.  It hurts my heart… I can’t stand to know they’ve been hurt, maimed… killed.

 

But… when a person is the one who does wrong to injure others… and they are caught up… where they get what they deserve… I feel happy inside.  Isn’t that awful?  I ‘pure love’ it.  I am wanting to put my ‘two cents’ in… I’d love to give them ‘what for’… also.  I want them to … hurt.  I want to see it… hear it.

 

How awful is that?  I learned this as a little girl as I watched the hell-raising… the fights.  Flesh pounding flesh, screams, thumps, bangs of someone’s head hitting furniture, the floor.  Bodies falling all over the place.  Sometimes, I would see teeth laying on the floor… bloody teeth.  I couldn’t breathe for the fear that coursed through my little body… especially…

 

Blood… oh my God, I would see blood running out of wounds… blood on the floor.  I wanted the weaker one to beat the person who did that to them… back.  Beat them good.  Sometimes, this little girl would run to help… what can a little child do?

 

I’d get slapped down… because sometimes, that was my mama who ‘was beaten down to the floor’ to lay in blood.  I wanted to … kill somebody for hurting my mama.  I hated them.

 

Getting back to the Medea movies… and seeing her just ‘jerk up somebody’ when they deserved it… you can see why I loved it.  Sometimes, we need people who can be ‘mean enough’ to protect others… who will act, ask questions later.  Who will ‘put the fear of God’ in someone who dares to hurt another person, animal.

 

Oh… this is another example of ‘acting’… when bad things happen in a home such as I lived in as a child… no one knew.  Why, even a child has to learn how to go ‘out in public’… pretend nothing’s wrong… all the while the other kids make their child’s life ‘pure hell’.

 

Some little girls never forget that. Some little girls just smiled sweetly when people would say…. ‘you have the nicest family’!  This little girl would say softly, ‘thank-you’.

 

 

You Are Most Perfect For… Me

You Are Most Perfect For… Me

By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

 

 

Best Friends, Husband, Soul Mate… my hero, Skip.  A younger Granny Gee and Skip…

 

 

 

I’m always, always glad to see you.  You are the only person I can be with… around… all the time.  I’ve never been bored by you, tired… of you.  Who are you?

 

A person who is kind; the second kindest man I’ve ever known.  I knew the most kindest as a little girl.  His name was George Harris.  He was the only grandfather I ever knew in my life.  He was my step-grandfather.  His love was like his smile… it reached his eyes… his sightless eyes.

 

George was blind, yet… he could ‘see’.  He ‘could see a person’, sense if they were good, honest.  He ‘could see’ to do everything… because he wanted to do everything.  George never sat around ‘feeling sorry for himself’… George had a life.  Each day he got up, carried out his responsibilities.

 

George was my Grandma Alma’s husband, best friend, and soul mate.  He loved her dearly; she loved him back the same way.  Of course… they had some very ‘loud’ fusses… they’d tell each off in a heartbeat.

 

Anyone close by… would sit, listen… and possibly put a hand over their mouth in surprise at what would come out of their mouths!  Of course… it could be quite comical.  Why… I ‘learned my best words… my little sayings… from them’!  I know… some things to say!  How could I not know?  Everyone for a mile away… could hear them.  :)))

 

I loved them with my very heart.  They only had each other… ‘it was them against the world’.  They were together almost every minute of their married life.  They could fuss each other out… love each other so much… in the next minute.  Don’t let anyone come in there to start something with the other… because the other would instantly  begin to protect….

 

Grandma Alma could swing a mean glass of water on someone.  She’d do it in a minute.  She was paralyzed, couldn’t walk.  She could use one hand, one leg.  Her mind was as sharp as any knife in a drawer.

 

She was very intelligent.  Always… she tried to teach ‘us kids’ things… sometimes, we would sit on the floor cross-legged to listen to her talk, tell stories.

 

My Grandma Alma was a wonderful person… I only regret I couldn’t have appreciated her… while being an adult.  I think she’d been proud at how I turned out to be … after all I’ve experienced in my life.  I think she’d been so proud that I learned from all the ‘bad’ in my life.

 

I feel sad when I think of her, George.  Life is sad.  Think about it for a moment… as children, we love people who meant so much to us, yet… we didn’t know all we could have done to make a positive difference in their life.

 

When we grow up… we grow up remembering what ‘they told us we would remember’.  Such as, when ‘I’m dead and gone, you are going to wish you had listened to me;  you are going to miss me; you are going to wish you’d treated me better’.

 

As children, we can’t understand that people aren’t going to be there, always… for us.  As a child, I didn’t know death was more than what my first memory was.  My memory of death was one shrouded in mystery… the man across the road died.

 

I vaguely remember as that little girl, my mother and her sisters talking quietly… saying they were going across the street.  Mr ‘so and so’ had died… oh no, children can’t go.

 

I watched them slip quietly across the street as I stood there… darkness, the sun quit shining… whatever dying was… one had to whisper quietly about it… and children couldn’t know about it.

 

That was my first impression of death… quietness, darkness… the sun quits shining.  Fear……..

 

Grandma Alma… George.  I think about them often.  ‘Now’… I could appreciate you both, so much more than when I was a child.  I know I caused you both to yell a lot at me, as well as the others.

 

I was a mean little girl… I just know I was.  I ‘was taught by the best’……. with other children, I fought to hold my ground.  With adults… I was afraid of them… when they became mad… I knew I was going to get ‘what for’…

 

I knew a lot of ‘good, cuss words’… and if another child made me angry… they knew them, too!  We would sound like… Grandma Alma, and George!

 

There’s one thing that has stuck out through time… my Grandma Alma always said it to George, when she became angry.  Everyone would be off in a distance listening… they never knew it.  When she’d become mad… she’d yell at him, saying ‘you are a he-man, you are nothing but, a ‘he-man’!

 

What that meant, I’m not sure.  But… it was the ‘perfect button for her to push’… because George would ‘blow up’!  The fight was on!  They never knew they entertained when they had a fuss.  The children would giggle… the adults would grin a ‘knowing’ smile.

 

They were the only ones who could ‘fight, fuss’… make others laugh.  When ‘the others, themselves’… fought… the world would become a very scary place.  They would come to the ‘arena’ in front of Grandma Alma, George… and ‘fight like hell’ in front of them.  Blood was drawn, flesh was pounded… somebody was going to get hurt.  Somebody was going to… know who was boss!

 

No matter what… this little girl grew up loving those… hell-raisers.  Loved them with her very heart.  Learned as she grew older… in that family… it wasn’t possible to form a lasting relationship.  Growing older, she learned it was part of the ‘family heritage’… it wasn’t possible.

 

George… was the kindest man I ever knew, until… I met Skip.  Like my Grandma Alma… I found my best friend, my soul mate, and my hero in this life.  That doesn’t happen a lot… I was fortunate.  God was good to me… to give me someone who loved me… as much as I loved… him.

 

Life with Skip has been full of many unusual things.  We both traveled many paths in Life… a lot we learned weren’t the paths we wanted to be on.  Those paths we had all the material wealth, luxuries we wanted… people thought we were the greatest.

 

Through time, as we learned from the paths we wanted to be on, travel now… we began to not have so much.  People like us… but, not for what we have ‘now’.  I think because they see ‘real people’ now, in place of what we wanted to project many years ago.

 

Also, there are people who are glad we no longer have anything.  So, that tells you a lot about them.  A lot of them don’t, either.  Jealousy, greed… makes people ‘your best friends’… you become the worse if you no longer ‘have it to give’…

 

The way I see it… it really feels good ‘to not keep up the pretense of being something … you never were to begin with… never will be … no matter what’.  I remember my Mom always telling me something so true (I may get it backwards… I do that!  But, you’ll know what I mean! :))).  She’d always say, “Faye, don’t fly so high that you can’t fall”…

 

I love being a ‘private’ person.  I like myself… I don’t know a lot of people in my ‘everyday’ life like me.  I know that I’m ‘nobody’ to others… but, I really am to myself.  I don’t pretend to be something I’m surely not.  I like being with ‘me’… I can entertain myself with drawing, computer, reading, playing with my Pups… it’s seldom I get lonely.  Of course, with all of you who follow me, are my friends… I’m never alone.  I have Skip, our Pups… that’s my world; my life.

 

I do wish for one thing not only for myself… but, what I could do for people who ‘need’… that is to have a lot of money.  I know money is supposed to be the ‘root of all evil’, ‘bad’… but, it’s not when you are happy with it, and making a ‘good’ difference everywhere you go in life.  I do ‘know’ that for sure… I have lived it in my life… I did make a difference.  I wish to be able to do that again.

 

When I do have extra to give, sometimes even… if I don’t have extra to give… I do it from my very heart.  I feel it deeply from caring with my very heart.

 

When people are younger… life is an illusion of sorts.  They want to project that they ‘are more than what they actually are’.  I watch the same old pattern play out now… in the generation behind me.  I understand it… ‘everyone wants to be somebody… sometimes, they are on the wrong path’… to really be.  People ‘see through them’… why?  They have been there… done that.

 

The one common thing they want to project is… that they are rich, have so much… so, others can think ‘they are somebody’.  Day by day, fancy words they don’t normally use (it tells on one)… bragging about this, that….. someone is always around who ‘knows better’……

 

Then… one day they ‘know’… they know that this life is not about ‘what one has’… it’s about love, caring for others.  Being rich is a good thing because it does make possible to have all you desire… it also, makes possible to make others happy, too.  That’s strictly my ‘Gloria Opinion’.

 

One doesn’t have to brag about in words they aren’t used to saying … trying to appear to be ‘more’ than what they are.  Instead of bragging… do something.

 

I promise when you do something for another… see such appreciation, gratefulness… you’ll feel a happiness you can’t get from anything else.  I promise you.

 

Make even a ‘tiny dream’ come true for a child… an adult you hear wishing for this, that.  Whenever I get extra money… I listen, watch the whole time.  I ‘already know the amount’ I can let go of… to do something, even small… to make another person smile, happy.

 

Guess what?  Good things… do… come back to you in the most unexpected ways.  Everything goes in a cycle… it ‘all comes back to you’.

 

Just think… you don’t want ‘a bad thing to travel full-circle back to you’.  It’s like planting a garden… if you plant good seeds, tend your garden… it’s going to be wonderful seeing what comes up next!  Think of your words… like seeds.  If they are ‘bad toward others’… they are going to ‘sprout up later’, haunt you.

 

Of course, we know I’m not perfect… not even anywhere to being perfect.  I’m going to say, do things sometimes just like anybody else.  I am old enough to ‘try not to’… to ‘know better’.

 

Once in a while… I’m going to be human.  It’s my only excuse if I ‘misbehave badly’.  I try not to… but, I ‘feel things deeply’… and I’m pretty much used to expressing what I really think.  When I do … I try to do it in the kindest way.

 

I don’t like to hurt others… but, if I’m pushed in a ‘bad’ way… then, trouble is sure to follow.  Especially … after the number ‘3’.  The 3rd time… I’m holding my ground.  :)))  I bet most people are… the same way.  Especially people everyone thinks ‘are so nice… I can do them any old way… they are too nice to not take it’…. :)))

 

Back to best friends, soul mates, heroes.  All of my readers, followers, fans… know instantly ‘who’ is mine.  For those who are just learning, it’s my husband, Skip.  He is my whole life… he and our Pups are the only family I have… and the only relationships that I ‘know’ is forever, to the end.

 

We don’t agree all the time… much of the time we do.  When we don’t agree, we tell each other ‘why’.  By the time, we get it talked out, the other ‘sees why’… nine out of ten times… we end up agreeing.  :)))  Of course… we are going to have our differences… once in a while.

 

One difference being… when we cook-out on the grill.  Our steaks are going to be different.  He is going to want his more medium-rare… mine is going to be well-done.  He doesn’t like garlic… I love garlic!  We cook together… he watches his………. I watch mine!  :)))

 

My best friend, my hero… my soul mate… I’m always, always glad to see… you.  I love you, Skip.  You are ‘most perfect for me’… :)))

 

 

 

 

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I’m Never Alone…

I’m Never Alone…

By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

 

 

 

I sit with my back to the door

Not a big deal, but… it really is

I don’t worry about what’s behind me

Doesn’t matter if it’s day or night

 

I am thankful I don’t have to be afraid

If ever I’m alone

God has given me three angels

Who guard me with their life

 

If anything moves outside, or makes a sound

My three angels go instantly on guard

Running through the pet door

Ready to confront whatever moves, makes a sound

 

How could I live without them

I can’t… I take the best care of my angels

By feeding them good food, giving them fresh water to drink

They don’t sleep on the cold, hard ground

 

My Pups sleep where I do, laying on the king-size bed

All around us… we make sure they have ‘plenty of room’

We sleep on the very edge, so… they can be comfortable

Never mind… sometimes, we fall to the floor!

 

That’s alright… we just get back up

Go climb on the bed once again, only to find

There’s no room left for one of us

So, off to the couch in the living room… one of us goes!

 

With a smile on one of our faces, we grab a pillow, blanket

Get comfortable on that big, soft couch

To get a good night’s sleep

One of us who gets on the couch… never … minds at all!

 

Let the three angels sleep, they are watching over us all the time

Sleep on a big, soft, giant bed

You deserve the very best, because you watch over us

So… I don’t have to worry, be afraid… I’m never alone

 

I Didn’t Know You Were Going To Die…

I Didn’t Know You Were Going To Die…

By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

 

 

I walked by a table, a family was laughing… talking

I heard my name, looked up to see an attractive face

Smiling at me, with twinkling… mischievous eyes

 

Kenan!  I called her name aloud with happiness

I was always glad to see Kenan… with her sweet smile

So very petite, pretty… ever-lasting beauty into ‘old’ age

 

We used to laugh, talk about getting ‘old’

I’d look at her, think ‘when I get your age’

I hope I could look so beautiful the way you do

 

I always cared about you, Kenan

I didn’t know you were sick

I pray that you never suffered, went to sleep

 

To wake up in Heaven to brighten

Their day with your glowing smile

Just as you always did mine… whenever I saw you

 

Rest in peace, my friend… Kenan

I’m feeling the pain of discovering you are gone

I would have spent more time talking to you

 

Laughing, being mischievous, having fun

As you and I did, when we saw each other

But… when I last saw you… I didn’t know you were going to die

 

Goodbye my friend, Kenan

I hope you see my son in Heaven

As he is already there…

 

You’ll see a smile as bright as yours

Maybe you’ll laugh, talk, see us ‘down here’

Knowing no matter what… our love can reach Heaven, too

 

I sit here, and my tears threaten to… overflow

Like water washing over a dam

My little smile like sunshine reflecting on the river

 

Sending rays of love, caring

That travels all the way to you

I’m so sad… I didn’t know you were going to die

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No Longer Does She Lay On A Cold, Wet Ground…

 

No Longer Does She Lay On A Cold,Wet Ground…
By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

 

A little frog hopped on the path leading to the pool of clear water
Lush grasses, cat tails, wildflowers grew at its edge
Dragonflies flitted here… flitted there
Butterflies landed on flowers, yellow and white
The pool sat surrounded in beauty, framed by nature

The sound of a woman’s voice could be heard in a distance
As she strolled down the path, her steps strong, sure
She knew exactly where she was going
To a rock that she had come to all through time
She grew older with this rock that shared her secret thoughts

The rock was big, shaped like a seat with a back
For the woman to place her pillow to sit on
She put the grass blade between her teeth
Raised her eyes toward the sky
To watch the clouds shift, change shapes

This time she came to the rock in happiness
To sit, think about… feel it deep down into her soul
She didn’t think about the last time she came
When her only child, her son… Tommy, died
The grief, pain would overwhelm her if she did

She thought of a little puppy she’d rescued
It lay dying on a cold, wet ground
All alone, close to people who knew she was there
They didn’t have the money to take her to a vet
So… all the little puppy could do… was to die

To get out of the way, because she was sick
Unsightly… who wanted a puppy with sores on her little body
No one could touch her for the fluids
That oozed, flowed out of her skin
So, let that little puppy die… no one hears it as it cries

The woman was aware that the puppy was alive
When she thought at first it was dead
She’d shed many tears over the puppy when it got gone
The puppy appeared to her for a moment, was gone again
It prompted her to look for it, found it… she did

Laying on that cold, wet ground near the woods
Children played close by, not going near her
At one time, they used to play with her, but …not now
In their minds, she was already gone
If not, there was a shotgun in the puppy’s near future

The woman wasn’t strong enough to carry her
It’s strange what a person’s body will do to save a dying soul
To rescue it from more grief, suffering and pain
The woman never gave her body another thought
She reached down for that puppy, pulled it’s little wet body to hers

She struggled to get it to her home, the weight became great
From the little puppy’s body… it couldn’t help itself
The woman prayed to God to give her strength
To get the puppy home… she’d crawl if she had to
Tears fell down her face, she didn’t know she was crying

Once she entered the gate to her home
She sighed a breath of relief… the puppy was protected now
It was up to her now… to save this little soul
Who had known nothing but, a hard way of life
The woman talked to the puppy as she put her in a bed

The bed was soft, and constantly changed throughout each day
Every moment the woman made was with pain
She’d pulled a muscle to save the little puppy
She didn’t care, even though she moaned at times
The little puppy’s needs came first… then, her pain

Time went by, care from the vet
Paid for by Camie’s Angel who began it all
Paved the ways for other angels to follow her lead
Created a miracle in little Camie, the puppy’s life
With prayers, positive thoughts, and donations

Camie began to blossom like a rose… a Camie Rose
From all the medical care, and love she received
She began to play with her two new brothers, Kissy and Chadwick
Eat good foods, her new Mommy prepared for her
She was safe, loved, cared for now

Camie is in a good home
She has quite some time to go before she is completely well
She’s in good hands now… Skip and Gloria’s hands
Along with her vet, Dr. David Fontenot, and his staff
And… all her Facebook Friends who love, follow her

Camie’s life was hard, she had no soft place to lay
Now… softness is all around her … she only has to choose her spot
Her life is good, the way it should be
The sun shines on her now, kisses her warm
No longer does she lay on a cold, wet ground… dying

 

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