Tags
Albuquerque, death, dreams, emotions, ice cream, Love, New Mexico
California and Utah, 2009
Photo: Albuquerque, NM, 1948 or 49,
me on far left, Lynelle on far right
My cousin Lynelle was dying,
I heard; remembering when we were children,
her big green eyes, smile sweet,
a bit crooked from a bad delivery,
five years older, so kind
to three-year-old me I thought
she was an angel;
that night I visited her in a dream,
in her hospital room in Utah,
kissed her cheek, told her I loved her;
standing all around, next to the walls,
my mother, Lynelle’s parents,
our grandmother,
Aunt Zulema and Auntie Irene,
all departed years before,
there to welcome, console, help,
I didn’t know which;
later on, Lynelle’s daughter wrote me
that the next day her mother was fading
in and out, but one time
she opened her eyes,
gestured at the empty room,
and told her daughter, as though the time
had come for the highlight of the picnic,
“Get ice cream for everyone!”
A Life in Poems 
Achingly beautiful, Willow, and a photograph that speaks of love and companionship…and you are all so cute!
i’ve read this over and over and i love it more each time.
A huge THANK YOU for this
Johm, thank you so much–your comment means a lot to me, makes me feel as if I might have accomplished what I set out to. And yes, we were pretty cute 🙂
So touching! Lovely poem.
Thank you–I appreciate your kind comment.
You gave me goosebumps.
Thanks
Thank you!
Which one is Lynelle, and which is you? Lovely picture. Touching poem..Judy
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Judy. I’m on the far left, Lynelle on the far right 🙂
Do you remember what you were thinking? You seem very moody and reflective. I love this picture. So fun to go back and really study old pics and see what you have overlooked
I don’t remember that specific picture being taken, but my childhood was a difficult one and I was almost always depressed and anxious, so my expression is a reflection of that, I imagine. I love old pics, too–sos interesting to look back.
Such as, two sets of girls have on matching dresses. In each case, were they sisters? Used to be more common to dress big and little sisters alike occasionally. The two on the right look like they were the same age. If sisters, were they twins? I am very visually motivated and like these mysteries solved! Ha.
You ARE very visual–very kind of you to take an interest. Yes, the girls in matching dresses are sisters in both cases. All of our mothers were wonderful seamstresses, so those dresses were homemade, I’m sure. The two on the left, believe it or not, were three years apart in age–they do look the same age, don’t they. Lynelle, on the far right, was probably nine in this photo, Karen, next to her, was six.
Adorable little dresses. I remember those little white cotton gauze-ish party dresses. Were they voile? My sister and I had them, too. I love your gentle description of Lynelle’s lopsided grin. Really a very nice poem and illustration.
Thanks, Judy. I don’t know about the voile–too many years ago 🙂