Family Legacy
Category: Poetry
Poetry and Photography
The Tide
I grew up in Newport, Rhode Island. It was a great place to live – a beautiful community surrounded by the Atlantic ocean, Narragansett Bay and the Sakonnet River. One of the lessons I learned early on was that, like the tides, there is ebb and flow to life.
Until February of this year, I had spent just over three years caring for my mom. It was great to have the time to spend with her. After she died – I kept thinking I wasn’t ready for her to go; it was too soon.
But my mind kept coming back to the lesson I learned from growing up on “the island”.
There is an ebb and flow to life.
Life Lessons From My Dad
My dad fought a twenty-five year battle with autoimmune illnesses. After he died, I remembered the time I had spent sitting next to him when he went for chemo. As we talked and laughed and joked around, he continued to tell me the lessons he thought were most important to remember in life.
I struggled with writing his obituary, wanting to share the important moments and achievements he had made throughout his life yet also remembering the important life lessons he had imparted on our family.
The end result was the poem: Life Lesson x 2
Ella
susanleysphoto.com 