Glenda grew up as a true country girl. At a young age, she began helping gather eggs, carry in wood for both the cook stove and the heating stove, pull weeds in the garden and help feed the bucket-fed calves, lambs and pet pigs. As she grew older, she helped with other jobs like "slopping the hogs," and milking cows by hand twice a day. Then the cream had to be separated from the milk with a hand-cranked separator. Next the milk had to be taken to the hogs.

Most of the food her family ate was grown/produced on the farm. The "menfolk," her dad and brothers, tended the fields to grow mainly oats and corn as well as to make hay. For most of Glenda's childhood this was done with horses. The "womenfolk," Glenda, her mom and sisters, took care of the garden, most of the livestock, and did the household chores. Washing dishes and clothes meant pumping water by hand, heating it on the stove, then using it. At one time there was a hand-cranked washing machine but when it wore out, it was back to using a washboard. The clothes, sheets, towels, etc. were pinned to the clothesline to dry. Ironing meant heating the flat iron on the cook stove, putting the "handle" on it, carrying the hot iron to the ironing board and pressing the iron over the material, which was spread on the ironing board to get the wrinkles out. When the iron got too cool to do a good job, it was taken back to the stove when the handle was put on a different iron and the process repeated. This wasn't too bad in the winter but in the summer, it could be a very hot, miserable job.

Much of the garden produce was "canned" for future use. The vegetables, etc., had to be gathered, cleaned, often cut up and put into pint or quart glass jars. Usually water, and either salt or sugar was added to the jars along with the produce. Next a lid was put on the jar, which was then put into the "canner" with water and put on the stove. It had to be watched to keep the temperature so it didn't get too low or too high as it cooked, for a given number of minutes, which varied with the type of food and the size of the jar. When done, the jars had to be removed from the extremely hot water so they could cool and "seal." If the jars didn't seal, the food would spoil. Later, the jars had to be taken to the cave where they were stored.

There were three cherry trees and two or three peach trees on the farm. These were also picked and canned. Glenda and her siblings enjoyed the picking process as that was the only time they were allowed to climb trees. The seeding of the cherries got to be tiresome, though. It became a family joke that almost every jar of cherries ended up with a pit in it.

Wild berries were an important source of fruit for the family. In her teens, Glenda spent many summer mornings in berry patches on various parts of the farm. As soon as the milking was done and two of the large milk buckets were washed, Glenda could start out. First it was goose-berries, if there were any. Later it would be raspberries and blackberries, each in their own season. Sometimes there were strawberries and mulberries as well as wild plums. Around noon or 1:00 P.M., Glenda would return to the house hot, tired and hungry. Then it was time for the others to take over the process of canning.

Of course, before berry season arrived there had been morel mushrooms to hunt for. This was often a group effort involving Mom, Donna, Rex, Glenda as well as Grace and Pauline, who were too young to be left alone. When cleaned, dipped in butter and fried in homemade butter, the mushrooms were such a yummy treat! Dandelions, lamb's-quarter and other green "weeds" were collected and cooked for food also. This was often the first fresh green food in the spring.

Other things of nature the family used for food were bluegill, catfish, and other fish from the ponds. Squirrels and rabbits J.O., Gene and Dad hunted provided meat. One year a neighbor wanted to get rid of the pigeons that had just about taken over his barn. The boys got them and the girls prepared them to eat. When baked or fried, they were delicious though a lot of work, since there wasn't much meat on the bones. A few times they were able to get pheasant and quail, and Glenda remembers at least once when there was racoon but it wasn't too well accepted.

Of course, the family raised chickens so they had eggs to eat and sell. Fried chicken was often a Sunday treat, and when hens were too old to lay eggs, they were eaten. Glenda almost drools at the thought of her mom's homemade noodles or dressing made with homemade bread. At various times ducks, geese, and rabbits were raised for food.

Glenda doesn't remember eating much beef when growing up. The heifers had to be kept to become milk cows and the bulls sold to pay taxes, buy clothes, etc. Most of the pigs were also sold although usually when the weather got cold enough to freeze so the meat wouldn't spoil, a large one was butchered so there would be meat, and lard could be made. A time or two there was mutton and goat meat as well. Since there was no electricity, there was no way to keep the meat cold or frozen if the weather turned warm after the butchering was done. This led to a hurry up job to get the meat canned before it spoiled. It wasn't as good after it had been canned but it was better than no meat at all.

As well as no electricity or "running" — i.e., indoor source of water, there was no indoor plumbing. In cold weather, what was politely called a chamber pot was used at night if the need arose. The rest of the time, the need to use the restroom meant a trip to "the little house out back." Of course, no electricity also meant no electric lights so kerosene lamps were used for light. The lamps had to be filled, the wicks trimmed, and the glass chimneys carefully washed if the lamp had "smoked" or soot had gotten on it.

Life involved a lot of work but Glenda remembers a lot of fun times, also — like sitting around the carom board with it as close to the lamp and heating stove in the winter as possible, playing caroms or cards. They also sat on the parents' bed listening to the battery radio or her mom reading aloud to them, often from the Bible. On hot summer evenings they would sit on the porch singing all the songs her mom knew from her tattered old hymn book. Many of those hymns are still Glenda's favorites. They also played "I Spy" and lots of other games with the older children helping the younger ones.

They had very few toys so they made their own. Mud on top of a tin can with a long stringy weed in it to form hair made a good "person" to do things with. Cucumbers that had managed to hide until they were too large to be used (whether to make sweet or dill pickles, or cucumbers and onion) could be used to make people, cars, or a variety of other things. Long sticks became horses for Glenda and her siblings to ride. Then there were rides on the very large, smelly, Billy Goat and coaxing him to the road by putting an ear of corn on a stick, mounting the goat and holding the stick so the goat would see the corn in front of him and try to get it.

Later, when a tractor was bought and the horses and mules no longer used for farming, they began riding them. The horses were sold but the mule was kept for many years. First it was just the old mule, June, they were allowed to ride. Grace managed to sneak off and break both Judy and Punch to ride. Punch never did get to be very trustworthy so Grace usually rode her. The day before she left for her senior year of college, Glenda decided she was going to ride Punch. She did but fell off into the gravel, so she had the opportunity to explain to all the people at school how she got scratches and bruises. How embarrassing!

Glenda and her sisters became riders skilled enough to ride the mules all over the country­side. All the neighbors were accustomed to seeing them but more than one stranger to the area almost ended up in the ditch when they saw them. AND they must have been a strange sight because the girls were not allowed to wear jeans or slacks. They wore long full skirts so they could straddle the mule. They wore their hair in two long braids they called "pig tails" hanging down. Those, the long full skirt, and riding bareback on mules, it is no wonder people almost drove off the road as they tried to make sure they really had seen what they thought they did.

Glenda received her kindergarten through 8th grade education at Morgan Center, a one-room country school in Morgan township, Decatur County, Iowa. The school was 1 1/4 miles from where they lived and most of the time they walked to and from school — rain or shine, hot or cold, mud or snow, in all kinds of conditions. Glenda remembers one year the snow was so high they could walk across tops of fences. At times it was so cold they felt they would freeze before they got to school or home. They carried their lunches in cloth lunch sacks their mom made. These could be put over their shoulders leaving their hands free so they could put them in their pockets when it was cold.

The school was heated with one coal burning stove that was about in the middle of the room. There was a slate blackboard at the front as was the teacher's desk. The students' desks of various sizes were along both sides of the room. near the windows, with the little desks at the front of the room and the big ones at the back near the door. The teacher taught all the grades and all subjects including music. Glenda was often the only one in her class so it was quite a shock when she entered "town school" and no longer had to answer all the questions.

When Glenda became one of the older students, probably 6th or 7th,grade, she was allowed to help the younger students with their numbers and reading. She really enjoyed this and decided this was what she wanted to do when she grew up. And God was good. Working with elementary students was how she spent 40 years of her life. Teaching was the only thing she wanted to do.

Students who attended country school were required to take and pass an 8th grade exam before they were allowed to attend high school. Whether this was because some people thought country kids weren't as intelligent or weren't taught as much was unknown to Glenda. She passed the test with the second highest score and also was the second highest when she graduated from high school. Glenda has always been pleased that the boy who graduated highest in the class was also a product of a country school. Interesting enough, even though she and Charles had never attended the same country school, they had been taught by two of the same teachers.

Glenda began high school in Lineville, but school reorganization forced her to change schools for her junior and senior years. She was very unhappy about that, and much of the first part of her junior year, as she was helping with the evening milking, she sat with her head against the cow's side crying quietly. In those days, Glenda was very shy, so having to change to a school where everyone was a stranger was very traumatic for her. Eventually she made two friends and was able to feel a little more at ease. Looking back, Glenda can see that the change had been a good thing. The Leon school, Central Decatur, had a guidance counselor. It was this lady who helped Glenda apply to college, told her of the National Defense Student Loan (a program to help needy students go to college, because there was a shortage of teachers) and helped her apply for it. ACL (Allerton, Clio, and Lineville) as the Lineville school was known, didn't have a guidance counselor and without that help, Glenda would never have made it to college to realize her dream of becoming a teacher. She got her B.S. degree in Science in elementary education from Northwest Missouri State College (now University) in 1965.

The first two years, Glenda taught were at Colfax, Iowa, where she taught 4th grade for two years. During the first year, her room had a door that connected with another 4th grade room. If Glenda got stuck, she could open the door, Dale would come to it, Glenda would ask her what she needed to know, they'd close the door and each go back to what they had been doing.

The first year Glenda taught, a junior high student set two fires in the school, the second one being serious enough school was closed for the rest of the week. The following year, a tornado came so close to the school, at dismissal time the students were quickly taken off the buses to the school basement until the danger was over. In her first two years of teaching, Glenda had experienced two events which, fortunately, many teachers never experience and Glenda never had to face again.

In 1967, Glenda moved to Osceola to teach 3rd grade. She really enjoyed her years as a 3rd grade teacher and had the pleasure of having some of her students come back as co-workers. She also taught some of her former students' children before she retired at the end of the 2005-2006 school year.

Not all of Glenda's teaching at Carke Community were in the 3rd grade classroom. In January 1987, she had a rather bad stroke that affected the speech/language area of her brain. At the worst stage she could hardly remember her name, didn't recognize numbers and could not read. While at Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, on nights when her head hurt so badly, although she could not read what she had written, she filled many pages of a note pad writing, "God will take care of me! God will take care of me!" AND HE DID!!

After ten days she was able to return home. She recalls the first Sunday she was home she tried to read the comics. It took her at least an hour to read Blondie and Dagwood because she had to sound out each word.

Glenda did receive speech and language therapy one hour a week for three months but most of it was on her own, as she had "homework" to do. Some of the materials for learning to read involved limericks as this would help get more of a rhythm to the reading. After reading what was provided, Glenda decided they weren't very good. When the teacher returned the following week, she not only read the ones he'd had but she presented him with several limericks she felt were much better.

There were a lot of game shows on TV in 1987 and 1988. Glenda spent many hours watching them and was thrilled when she could answer a "Jeopardy" question, solve a "Wheel of Fortune" clue or some other game show question.

The school also let Glenda borrow a set of outdated reading books starting with pre-primers. She would sit on her bed, leaning against the head of it, trying to read. A word being changed from capitalized to lower case seemed like a whole new word, as did adding "s," "ed," "ing," etc. Then one day the concept of prefixes, suffixes, etc. returned and reading became a bit easier, although she still often had to sound out or spell each new word.

Glenda would struggle to read until she was totally exhausted. Then she would scoot down until she was lying with her head on the pillow and cry herself to sleep. When she woke up, she would start the process all over again.

It was during the time of trying to read, her friend, Shirley Woods, returned from a trip on which she did missionary-type work with places like Heifer Project, Habitat for Humanity, or similar groups, and she brought Glenda a cookbook. Glenda discovered her strength and attention span were long enough to read one recipe. This made an interesting change from pre-primers and "Readers' Digest" jokes. Shirley was also helpful when Glenda had to go to Des Moines for doctor appointments.

As if Glenda didn't already have enough challenges in her life, in 1987, she began having seizures. She called them her "Wheel of Fortune" seizures because she first noticed the problem while watching it. She saw the wheel on TV, but over and over it kept spinning off to the right until it was out of her line of vision. Medication helped but it  remained an occasional problem.

After five or six months, Glenda went for a reevaluation. Although she had made a lot of progress in regaining her speech and language skills, Glenda was told she could not teach the following year and maybe never again, so she had to take a year's leave of absence and go on disability. This also led to a reduced income. Glenda has often said she was glad she had grown up poor so she knew how to cut back and still get along.

The kind of stroke Glenda had makes people prone to depression. This, along with all the other changes that had happened, led to deep depression. The day Glenda hit bottom, her friend Jane Haider had to pick up something for her husband, Cliff, at the funeral home and decided to pop in and say, "Hi" to Glenda. Some people would say it was just chance but Glenda feels it was God providing what she needed before she knew she needed it. Not only did Jane unexpectedly stop by, she knew a psychiatrist came to Osceola once a month and that was his day to be in town. One phone call and Jane had Glenda on the way to the hospital to see Dr. Singh. There was a very short interview with one of his assistants, and then she saw the doctor himself. The result was the following morning Cliff took Glenda to Creston where she was hospitalized and saw Dr. Singh or one of his assistants at least twice a day.

They soon learned that although Glenda didn't express her feelings very well orally, she did write about them during the night. Therefore, when they arrived for the first visit of the each day, they asked, "Did you do any writing last night?" After reading what she had written, they could ask questions to help her better express herself. One of the things they were able to do was get her to admit her teaching days were most likely over and she would have to find something else to do with her life.

After she returned home, Glenda continued in therapy — first going every week, then every other week, then twice a month. She continued to write, often using an old song book she had and putting new words to the melody she remembered. Two teacher friends were nice enough to let her check or at least try to check math and spelling papers. She also cut out a lot of things that had been laminated.

Jane Haider was working with an adult literacy program. She could not find many materials of adult interest that were easy enough for her adult students to read. Jane gave Glenda a word list her students were to learn and Glenda wrote short stories of interest to adults, using those words. Jane typed the stories and her sons illustrated them. Glenda has a somewhat mischievous streak at times, so one day she decided to see if it would be possible to write a naughty (dirty) story using only the word list. It was, although Jane was the only other person who got to see the story.

In August 1988, Glenda needed her speech and language skills checked again. This time she went to Iowa City Hospital where two days of testing took place. When they learned Glenda had seizures, they asked about them and Glenda was able to explain what she "saw," etc. when having one. This type of visual seizure is not common and so many people who experience them can't really describe what is happening. Since Glenda could do a good job of telling what happened when she had a seizure, they asked if they could make a video for use in teaching. Of course Glenda said OK so a doctor interviewed her while it was filmed.

After all the tests were completed, Glenda was told she could return to teaching but just half-days. So, the evening before school was to start, Glenda was able to call the superintendent and tell him she could teach half days. Since the Title 1 Math program for 2nd and 3rd grades was a half-time position, Glenda took it rather than returning to 3rd grade as she considered it was better for the students to have the same teacher for the full day. Glenda remained in the Title 1 program until her retirement. When the other Title 1 Math teacher retired, Glenda's time was increased to 69% and she also taught 4th grade students. She enjoyed the work and liked being able to work with students for more than one year, if they needed help longer.

Glenda was aware she still had areas of weakness and during her first year back teaching, she began to question whether she was being fair to students by teaching. In August 1989, she went to have just her teaching skills evaluated. A week of various tests showed that she was better qualified for teaching than any other profession and in some ways her difficulties were an asset because they gave her a better understanding of learning problems students might have — things like saying one number and writing a different one, or knowing an answer one minute and not the next. She told her students that if they thought she had made a mistake in checking their work, they were to tell her. Then they discussed the polite way to do it. Glenda ended the conversation with each group by saying, "Everyone makes mistakes, even teachers," to which one student commented, "Yes, but most of them won't admit it !" It was a good thing class was over and the students were out the door so they didn't see Glenda silently laughing because the student was certainly correct about that student's classroom teacher.

Over the years, Glenda has done a lot of writing. She remembers doing a paraphrase of "The Night Before Christmas" when she was in elementary school. In high school English, she did poems as well as essays when only one was required. In college at NWMSC, some of her poems were printed in the school newspaper. While she was still teaching 3rd grade, career education became the "in" thing. Glenda thought a good way to introduce each career was by reading a poem about it. She ran into difficulty though because there were so few poems about jobs. The solution was to have each of her students tell her what they wanted to do when they grew up, then she wrote a poem about each career named. The poems were printed and after each was read, the various aspects of the job were discussed. Then the students drew and colored a picture to show their idea of each job. When finished each student had his or her career book to take home.

Some of the reading text books had poetry that used names. To build interest in reading, Glenda sometimes used the name of each student in that reading group in a poem that told something about them. An example:

Cindy liked to wear
Yellow ribbons in her hair
`Though she was not pleased
When other students teased
She acted like she didn't care.

This was done on the spur of the moment so the poems were never written down.

As a writing exercise, the class worked on a poem together. They would do several together before they tried to write one alone or in pairs. Glenda liked to have them do Haiku as this helped with syllables, which was an important skill for both reading and English classes. Although true Haiku is about nature, Glenda created the following poem to help the students remember how to write it:

Haiku
Japanese poem
Three lines done by syllables
Count five, seven, five.

In recent years Glenda has entered poems in the Iowa poetry contest. Although she has never won, some of her poems have been selected to be in the book that is printed each year. Even though Glenda liked writing poems best, she also wrote other things. She went through spells of writing short jokes and had at least two typewritten pages of dentist jokes.

The only one she remembers is:

Question: What is your dentist's wife's name?
Answer: I don't know but he keeps talking about FLOSS.

She has many pages of sayings such as: "Why should others like you if you don't like yourself?"

Glenda also writes what she thinks of as name poems. She got the idea from ads she saw asking people to send in the name of their baby so a poem could be written with each line beginning with a letter of the baby's name. She decided to take this a step further and write poems using the baby's first, middle and last name. Later she got the idea of using the names of the bride and groom in a poem, sort of uniting their names in a poem like they were uniting their lives in marriage. Without both names the poem wouldn't make sense and without both of them working together the marriage wouldn't work.

Examples of baby poems are below, just using one name rather than all three:

SHAD                                                                                       ANNE
Cuddly                                                                         Aware of her surroundings
Happy                                                                           Never forgetful
Alert                                                                             Nearly perfect
Darling                                                                         Enjoyable to care for.

An example for the beginning of a wedding poem for DAN and KIM:
Daily becoming closer together as they
Keep learning more about one another
Able to make changes in their
Ideas so they can develop a stronger
New relationship that will make their
Marriage happy and long lasting.

One of Glenda's ambitions is to someday publish a book of her poems and/or other written work but so far she seems to do more writing than typing on the computer as she prefers to hand write when in the creative mood. She has gotten some on the computer, printed and sent to the college friend who asked if she could illustrate them.

When the Clarke County Historical Society did the cemetery tours, other members such as Marie White and Connie Penick would decide on the people to tell about and do the research. Sometimes they gave the information to Glenda and she would write the scripts for those who played the role on the tour.

Glenda never knows when the creative urge will hit. She has learned to keep writing materials in the bathroom, beside her bed or recliner, and in her purse. She might get the inspiration for a poem any time or any place. She wrote during teachers' meetings, and has lost track of the number of times the minister would say something in his sermon, of which she has heard the beginning but not the end, because he had sparked an idea and she couldn't pay attention until she had written it down. Sometimes the whole poem "came" quickly, but she also has the beginnings of many poems scribbled on church bulletins. When a poem began coming in the middle of the night, Glenda learned it was useless to try to ignore it because she was unlikely to be able to go back to sleep until the poem was on paper.

Near the beginning of 2009, Glenda began having a new experience. Even though she can neither read nor write music and her singing fits what the Bible calls "making a joyful noise unto the Lord," she began getting a melody along with the words. As a result, she has several poems/songs/hymns that she needs to record and have someone write the music for them. So far she has mostly just sung them to herself; although she has shared some of them with family members and a few friends. She is now asking God what He wants her to do with them but so far doesn't feel she has gotten a clear answer or she hasn't understood it.

Glenda is a member of the Disciples of Christ Christian Church in Osceola and is active in the women's unit. She sometimes gives the lesson. Although she doesn't always make it to Sunday School and worship service, church and religion are an important part of her life. She has read the Bible through a number of times and each time noticed something new. She also likes "Guideposts" magazine, reads the "Daily Guideposts" and other devotionals.

While teaching Glenda was always a member of the local, state, and national education associations, and was active at the local level. She was also a member of reading and math organizations. She is currently a member and treasurer of the Beta Xi, which is the Clarke County organization for those who have worked in the Muray and Osceola schools.

Additionally, Glenda is involved in Women's Club and is a non-active member of the Hospital Auxiliary, although at one time she did work in the Gift Shop. She is a life member of the Clarke County Historical Society and was formerly much more active than she is now. When the society was involved with the publishing of the Clarke County Rural School books, she did a lot of typing. Gladys Weaklend and James Vawn dictated their memories of attending rural school to Glenda and she wrote them up and typed them. She also wrote some poems about going to country school so some of the books would have a bit more variety in them. When the Historical Society was first beginning, Glenda helped with the ham and bean fund-raising meals served at the Fire Hall and "acted" in some of the skits performed in the Courtyard so the society could earn money for a museum.

It was many years after the stroke before Glenda could really enjoy reading again but now she can do so. She enjoys reading a variety of books but her taste in reading materials has changed over the years and now depends on the mood she is in. She also enjoys all kinds of puzzles and is often working on a puzzle book while watching TV.

Although during her childhood and early years of teaching, Glenda was quite shy, she is now outgoing and can talk to almost anyone. She has a lively and sometimes quirky sense of humor. She likes to tell people she is not ornery, she just makes BRIGHT remarks She enjoys people and likes going to the meal site for both the food and fellowship.

Her family is an important part of her life. Both her parents are dead but all of her brothers and sisters are living as are one sister-in-law and two brothers-in-law. Glenda also has many nieces nephews, great nieces and nephews as well we many cousins and their families. She enjoys being with any and all of them as often as possible.

During her life Glenda has seen many changes and experienced a number of challenges —she tries to view them as challenges to help her learn and grow rather than as problems. Although she still has seizures, battles depression especially in the winter, and has other health concerns, Glenda strives to keep a positive attitude. She feels God has been good to her and says that as long as she can laugh, she can make it and find pleasure in being alive.

BLESSINGS
Eyes to see
Ears to hear
Are blessings that
I hold quite dear.
Legs to walk
A voice to speak
A brain to provide
The words I seek.
Hands to work
Or clasp to pray
Are blessings that
I use each day.
Glenda B. Bright June 17, 2009

A Bunny Tale
The runaway bunny went hop, hop, hop.
The child chasing it yelled, "Stop, stop, stop!"
I wondered who would win this little race
With a smile upon their face.
The bunny's movements seemed filled with glee
As if to say, "You can't catch me."
Then the bunny came to a sudden stop
Not taking even another hop
Until the boy almost got there, and then
It started hopping away again.
I didn't have to wonder why.
For the child had begun to scream and cry.
At this terrible, loud, sad sound,
The bunny stopped and turned around.
Then it hopped back to the boy
Who scooped it up with a shout of joy.
Glenda B. Bright January 30, 2010 1:15 P.M.

Memories of Mike
The sun was shining brightly.
It was a perfect fall day.
Then came the news
That took the brilliance away.
There had been an accident —
And a young man had died.
I held myself together in public
But when I got home, I cried.
As I sat at home in my chair
Shedding silent tears,
My thoughts went back
Through the bygone years.
I'd first really gotten to know him
When I taught him in third grade.
I followed his progress in life
Sometimes concerned over choices
That he made.
He was the kind of kid
Who could make you stomping mad
And then the next minute do something
That made you proud or glad.
Although I knew he was capable,
For he was nobody's fool,
I often wondered if he
Would graduate from high school.
Then came the announcement
And finally I knew —
He was graduating.
He'd stuck it out — seen it through!
I kept track of him
As he changed and grew
Always wishing him well
And worrying about him too.

As I was keeping track of him,
He was keeping track of me
And that's how some of my
Most treasured memories came to be.
Like the cold, rather icy day,
When I was walking in the street —
He stopped and offered me a ride
As his friends climbed in the back seat.
Later when I moved
So I lived almost next door,
I got to know the grown up Mike
Better than before.
I know he could be mischievous —
Was sometimes in trouble with the law
But there was another side of him
A lot of people never saw.
The side of him that led him
Almost three years ago
To clear my sidewalks and steps
Of several inches of snow.
Once he climbed up on my roof
To adjust the antenna for the TV,
Not because he had to
But to be helpful to me.
On our last real visit
I noticed a real maturity.
Concern over his grandparents' health
Was quite plain to see.
As I wiped my tears
I seemed to hear a voice
Say, "Mike is with me now.
Don't be sad! Rejoice! Rejoice!"
I know we will all miss him
And that's as it should be
But we can take comfort from the voice
That said "Mike's home now, safe here with me!"

Return to main page for Recipes for Living 2010 by Fern Underwood

Last Revised December 11, 2014