Message from my Mother

From the Front Porch

I am an "accidental blogger". When I launched my writing career in March of 2014, one of the things that I decided to include was my journaling, which I have always found to be a comforting and therapeutic endeavor. It was a big risk to open myself up in such a public forum, but it has taught me that, for the most part, we share far more experiences than we think. It's comforting to know I'm not alone! (*the "Button Text" is the link to my first novel)

Message from my Mother

7/1/2014

2 Comments

"You are my budding flower...Let the belief in yourself keep growing." --Anonymous

Today it is official, I'm a writer! My first novel has been published and I've been thinking about my moms all day--my mother Leslie, who gave birth to me, my Aunt Mattie, who Mama'd me as if I were her own, and Mama Schaefer, who took me in and kept me close all the days of her life. I wish they were here to share this exciting event with me, and as I've walked around throughout my day today doing normal things, following my routine, I kept looking at a poem my mother, Leslie, wrote in 1967 that I have hanging on the wall. I've had this strong sense of her presence for the last several days, and I stopped to read her work, as I was unable to remember the last time I'd actually read it. When I was done, I knew why it had drawn me in, not letting me go until I got the message.

For You, With Love
by Leslie Jean Anderson

Love is the whisper of earth
When the stars pale
And the dawn-winds hail
A new birth...

Love is God's plenty...
An endless measure of gifts that descent
In sun and in shower on mountain and plain...

The quickening rain,
And the storied treasure at the rainbow's end...
But first and last...
Time present, time future and time past...

Past all belief and thinking of
Earth beneath and heaven above
Beginning and ending...
Forever new...
Love is YOU.

I love you, Mama. I love all three of you SO much!

*Image Vintage Heart @ glitter-graphics.com.

2 Comments

About The Author

I grew up in rural North Carolina. When I was only nineteen, I moved away and became a military wife. My only aspiration at that tender time in my life was to create an adult life that "fixed" all of the "injustices" of my childhood. Secretly, however, I wanted to reach for the sky! I wanted to be a writer and find ways to "save the world" (my mother used to say, "You have Save the World Syndrome".). Mostly, I wanted to matter.

Since then, I have learned to reach well beyond what I ever dared to think was possible. I've learned not to allow fear to stop me from whatever future I want to create!

What keeps me grounded? My Tribe! What provides the wind beneath my wings? A well of reserves filled with unstoppable passion!

4/22/2015 01:23:12 am

I have been looking for this poem for a few years now. I remember it was sold as a little book/booklet with illustrations. I never could remember it all. However I seem to remember another verse. after the first one. ".. . the call of the hills and the whispering ocean, when everything is a maze and a blaze of color and motion . . " Am I wrong.
But so nice to find the rest of the words. Thank you for putting this up.
Best regards, Dj

Amy Marie Schaefer

4/22/2015 04:51:07 am

DJ,
My mom painted this poem on a card she made for my grandmother many years ago. I'm not sure the origins and she's been gone for many years so I can't ask her about it. If you find the full version, I'd love for you to come post it on my page. Thank you for your comments and for stopping by. I hope you'll come back.
Always,
A.

From the Front Porch