"MAINTAINING OUR ROOTS"

With a new "Roots" television series coming this summer I am encouraged to relate my roots to my life right now. I went with my wife on a recent visit to see my only living brother and his wife and family. My brother and I are the surviving members of our family of five. The other three in our family all died within a two year period between December 10, 2012 and August 10, 2014. The visit provided the inspiration for this poem. Looking out at day lilies that were planted under the supervision of my mother on the family farm (now gone), I was inspired to compare those re-rooted plants to our family life. I, myself, you see have many day lilies replanted at my house in Illinois and they do look similar to my brother's in Colorado. By and large I want to emphasize the need to retain connections in order to insure root growth and harvest in the family. To do this we must maintain the core values we grew up with on the farm, including, as the poem says, the Ten Commandments and harvesting the good and weeding out the bad. In this case, I take it as a metaphor for life. When we act like a farmer and become a good steward for our lives we will be insuring that the generations down the road will not only live, but thrive.

Common core root values are important to our lives today. If our American society is going to live and thrive in times to come, we will have to return to those root values. Hard work, caring for one another, lifting up the good and being willing to confront the bad and do something about both will be all important for our lives.

Now I will share the poem I wrote on July 24, with the hope that any readers will connect to their roots and continue to maintain and grow from them.

“ROOTS” FAMILY—NOT LIMITED BY SPACE OR TIME

QUIRKS AND TRAITS IN COMMON WHEREVER WE LIVE

THE FARM, AS WELL AS THE MOUNTAINS WE CLIMB

HUGS AND HANDSHAKES WE NEED TO GIVE.

BULBS—YIELD BRIGHT YELLOW FLOWERS ACROSS THE MILES,

GENES—LEAD US TO JOBS AND PLACES TO AND FRO.

GIFTS—WE’VE BEEN BLESSED; WE WON’T ACCEPT ANY DENIALS.

BLOSSOMS—WE STILL HAVE A FULL HARVEST TO GO.

LOSS IS A WAY OF LIFE

AS TIME GOES ON,

THERE WILL BE MORE.

THOSE WHO WILL THRIVE WILL FIND AN OPEN DOOR,

THEY WILL ACCEPT AND GET BACK TO THE CORE.

CORE VALUES FROM THE FARM

INCLUDE HARD WORK, HARVESTING THE GOOD AND WEEDING OUT THE BAD.

FOLLOW THE COMMANDMENTS AND DO NO HARM.

OBEY YOUR MOM AND MIMIC YOUR DAD.

WHAT TIES FAMILY TOGETHER?

IS IT COMMON PLACES, EXPERIENCES, OR THE WAY WE LOOK?

IS IT HUMOR OR EXPRESSION OR THE WAY WE COOK?

COULD TYLER OR EPHRON CAPTURE IT IN A BOOK?

CONNECTIONS—IT’S GOOD TO MAKE THEM.

NOT JUST EVERY FEW YEARS BUT WHENEVER WE CAN.

WE SEE WE HAVE A COMMON STEM.

MEANWHILE WE WILL SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER AS A FAN.

MAINTAINING ROOTS ARE IMPORTANT AND VITAL TO LIFE

MAY WE ALWAYS MAINTAIN THEM IN PLEASURE OR STRIFE.

AS TIME GOES BY WE WILL STAY CONNECTED TO THE CORE.

WE WILL SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER TILL WE COME TO THE GOLDEN SHORE.