Where has August gone?

Wow, today is the 26th already. This month flew by it seems. It started with a scare for us. My 91-year-old father had to be taken to the hospital in Macon, GA on 31 July with his blood pressure bottoming out at 48/28. Turns out he has a "mild heart attack" from being dehydrated. He had to spend two days/nights in the hospital to be checked out. This was his first time to be hospitalized in his life! Fortunately for all, my sister Sperry lives a hour+ away in Fayetteville, GA. She rushed down to Macon & stayed with him for the next six days. Linda & I drove over on the 6th and stayed with Pop until the 17th. He has recovered nicely, and the doctor says his heart suffered no real damage. His BP has returned to his normal 115/65 range without any medication. I take two BP prescription medicines, and my BP runs in the 135/80 range. I wish I had BP like Pop does! Unfortunately, healthwise I took after my mother.

When we returned on the 17th, I was way behind with everything -- bill paying, mail, reading newspapers and magazines, Internet emails at several sites, replying to on-line reviews received, etc. Plus there have been a couple of trips to White Lightning Road to visit with Uncle Travis since we returned. I finally got caught up! I finished preparing my posts for the Yahoo VBT book tour group last night for the September 1st & 3rd postings. My guest in September will be author Stephen Tremp who published the novel Breakthrough. Y'all need to drop in then to learn all about Stephen & Breakthrough.

I finally found time to write a poem this month. Here it is, folks:

Graveside Grief

Two angels sit atop a tombstone,
looking across the cemetery’s expanse.
A man sobbing while lying prone
on a grave catches their eye by chance.

Says one to the other: “That man
is grieving hard. He must have loved
the deceased greatly. Why, you can
see the grief he feels for his beloved.”

The second angel replies, “It heals
a human to grieve. A little bit of grief
is lifted from him so that he feels
better each visit. Time will bring relief.

“During each visit that small portion
of grief removed is then left graveside.
Observe how a different proportion
of grief by each of the graves resides.

“How much each human was cherished
is reflected in the amount of grief left
graveside. You can see some perished
unloved; their death made no one bereft.

“Yet others must have been loved quite
widely, for their graves are piled high
with grief from many mourners, right
up past the tombstone toward the sky.

“It is fitting that for all eternity just how
much each human was loved easily can be
discerned by any whose ability will allow
them this accumulated graveside grief to see.”


Well, I hope to see everybody on the 1st. Please stop in!

Cheers!

Harry