The List Of Us
(While my computer undergoes a (hopefully) brief hospitalization, here’s a poem from my poetry site With Resistance.)
The List Of Us
In my father’s wallet
we found
one small sheet
torn from a notebook
folded and re-folded
sliced through in the crease
and in my father’s careful hand
were all his children’s names
and birthdates
and our spouses’ names
and their birthdates
and the grandchildren
and their spouses
and in shakier letters
the great-grandchildren.
The conspiracy of years
schemes against us
but my father
refused to forget
and carried with him
the names and numbers of his immortality.
notquiteold 
What a wonderful poem Thank you.
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Thank you.
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In my mind’s eye, I can just see that little slip of paper…. Wonderful, touching poem.
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Thanks. My mother found it and I was so happy when she shared it with me.
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Utterly sweet in every way!
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Thanks.
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Wonderful. i can imagine an elderly gentleman referring to it often.
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I like to think it gave him comfort.
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Yes indeed.
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Uncle Freddie was like your Dad, kinda. :). He carried the same blue-lined paper scrap. In his later years, he took it out at funerals and family parties (one and the same to Italians) oh, and at the Italian men’s club. Single lines of script. Punch lines of his joke repertoire.
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I never knew him to send a card or anything – I think he just wanted to make sure he KNEW.
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Lovely. There’s a whole family story in that piece of paper and the poem you wrote about it…
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My dad loved his family more than anything in the world.
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This is an absolutely beautiful tribute to your father. It makes me wish I knew him.
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He was a good person through and through. Good-hearted, happy, and always thought the best of everyone.
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A wonderful keepsake for the family.
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And I loved getting that little glimpse into his private self.
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Bless your father’s heart. I need to stock up on my Kleenex. 😉
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It was a privilege to be his daughter.
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I don’t doubt it for a second. 🙂
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That’s wonderful. I can picture that worn piece of paper so well. Treasure it.
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I can also picture him writing down our names and birthdates. I love knowing that he cared so much.
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Beautiful tribute to your father.
Oh, and your computer and mine must have decided on “sick leave” at the same time.
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Thank you… and I am very relieved to have my computer back!
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Reblogged this on lifefromthestep and commented:
What a great image.
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thank you
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