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Susan McCloud

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"Great-Grandmomma is a secret name that contains the essence of life/And shaped an idea in the womb of my mother, free of panic and strife."

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By BRUCE BUTTS

Special to the Tribune

Published: March 15, 2009

The more we get together, the happier we'll be

When absence intrudes, our memories will flee.

Faster than a ride, high upon the knee

Of an aging great-grandmother, before the age of 3.

The memories between that woman and I

Had time to foster before she could die.

And she would look me straight in the eye

As if to know that someday, someway, I would awaken and fly.

Through the eyes of my great-grandmother, I would explore the past

Asking about the days of her life and how the die was cast.

The Washingtons, the Crumuels and the McClouds and all the ties that bind

Somehow seemed to evaporate in the mystic shape of time.

Mrs. Susie McCloud was the bearer of all that I had known

And in my head, without my knowledge, a seed had been planted and sown.

Great-Grandmomma was her title and as hard as it was to say

I enjoyed every time I called her name as if they were words to pray.

Time to say thank you for your humility, caring, love and grace

And recognize the challenges you endured to continue at this pace.

Many times I'd wonder off somewhere in my imagination

Never dreaming of the Holocaust, of the families near extermination.

But the older I get, the closer we become

And trials and tribulations seem to connect us both as one.

I only have the memories of a well-developed child

Whose curiosity only grew when I remember Great-Grandmomma's smile.

I think at times that someday, someway we'll be together

Not realizing our genetic imprints will eternally bind us forever.

God made man and you were conceived and I had a place in the chain

Happy to be a thought in the mind of God, I see no reason to complain.

The more we get together in thought, word and deed

The more we are able to visualize what is required for us to succeed.

Great-Grandmomma is a secret name that contains the essence of life

And shaped an idea in the womb of my mother, free of panic and strife.

And I was blessed to be born, happy in the morning sun

Partially blind, but all of the time remembering that God is one.

The more we get together, the happier we'll be

When you and I are reconnected by the roots of our family tree.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bruce Butts, 56, formerly of Tampa, is a physical education teacher at Barrington High School in Newark, N.J. His poem recalls childhood years with his maternal great-grandmother in Ybor City.

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