Tuesday, July 10, 2012

A Favorite Childhood Poem…

I was thinking about my Grandpa the other night…my mom’s dad.  He was a tall, heavy set, Canadian man.  He had a loud booming voice, and his laughter was even more booming!  He loved Dennis the Menace books, and he loved poetry.  He loved to make fun of our Michigan accents, and said things like “Glad you’re here…when are you leaving?” :) We would sit on the front porch with him drinking hot tea, and eating toast made from fresh bread from Kita’s bakery down the street.  Sometimes he would bring out his ukulele and play for us.  I loved those nights on the porch!

There was one poem in particular that my grandpa loved to quote to us when we visited.  I loved to hear him quote it, because he could barely make it through the poem without laughing hysterically.  We would laugh with him, and ask him to repeat the poem several times.

All I could remember of the poem was a few phrases, so I googled one of them the other night, and it turned out to be the title.  I sat here with tears in my eyes as I read it.  Tears of joy remembering how funny the poem was to him, and tears of sadness, because I miss him.  He was a wonderful grandpa.  We had so much fun when we stayed with him and my grandma, and we never turned on a computer, a DS, or a Wii.  We were outdoors doing things all the time…life was great.

I was so excited to find the poem that I thought I would share it with you.  I love it, and have been reading it to my kids too!  This all from the grandpa whose last picture to us before he passed away was a Christmas card with him sitting on Santa’s lap! We laughed our heads off.  He was a big man, so that made it even more hysterical.  Poor Santa…My grandpa sat there as serious as ever..too funny!

I just found the picture, so here you go! It makes me smile…

Alan & Santa

Here’s his favorite poem :)

Daddy Fell into the Pond ~ By Alfred Noyes

Everyone grumbled, the sky was grey.
We had nothing to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing the end of a dismal day,
And there seemed to be nothing beyond,
THEN
Daddy fell into the pond!

And everyone's face grew merry and bright,
... And Timothy danced for sheer delight.
"Give me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He's crawling out of the duckweed."
Click!

Then the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And doubled up, shaking silently,
And the ducks all quacked as if they were daft
And it sounded as if the old drake laughed.
Oh, there wasn't a thing that didn't respond
WHEN
Daddy fell into the pond!

4 comments:

Anita Johnson said...

My husband was IN our pond today...he'll get a kick out of this!

Deeds said...

Hehehe Kath! What a cute poem and a funny photo. Enjoy your sweet memories. ((HUGS)) - Deeds

Anonymous said...

I say, where were you when the boat tipped ovah?

J

Kathryn said...

I was in the water! (said with English accent :)