Sunday, August 7, 2011

You Are My Sunshine




SATURDAY CENTUS
Jenny's theme this week strikes a very personal chord with me.

YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE

'You are my sunshine'.....There's a song
That strikes a chord with me.
*
Long ago I had a sister,
Just one in my family tree.
She was a good deal older;
She left home when I was young,
But down through all the passing years
I've heard her praises sung.
She had a lovely nature,
And a really delightful laugh.
Yet all that now remains of her
Is a faded photograph.
For she died fifty years ago,
When she was in her prime.
And I think of her more often
With the passing of the time.
She was a nurse in Scotland
And that was where she died,
And I travelled there with my parents,
To be there at their side.
The church was full of nurses
Who had come to say goodbye,
And many were overcome with grief;
I know I saw some cry.
And, suddenly, they started singing........
'You are my sunshine' was the song.
And, in those days, secular music,
Simply didn't quite belong
At a religious service.
Which was solemn and subdued.
A pop song sung at a funeral!
Surely that was crude!
They told me, after the funeral,
That that was her theme song;
The patients used to sing it
Whenever she came along.
She brought sunshine to so many;
It's tragic that she died.
And her sister now pens this poem
With a sudden rush of pride.
*

---------------------------------------------------------

THE ACME WRINGER
(Another piece of nostalgia)

It happened like this..... a display was held of ' an up-to-date invention'.
The date was 1936 (I now am drawing a pension!).
My Mother and my Aunt were there with cousin Mike in tow,
When they saw the event was advertised, they thought that we should go.
Until this time a wringer had always been worked by hand;
A very tiresome, tiring task, as you can understand.
Now came the Acme Wringer, worked by electricity,
And everyone was excited at this bold modernity!
Mike and I were naughty brats! We raced around unchecked!
The whole show was in danger of being really wrecked!
We chanced upon a Wringer which we lovingly regarded,
The man in charge had gone to lunch! The whole thing was unguarded!
It was rolling idly by itself as a sort of demonstration!
To the two young brats this vision was an open invitation!
'Put your hand in there' said Mike. 'See if it goes through!'
I put one hand on the rollers! Then I foolishly put two!
Sure enough they did go through, but my arms went through as well!
Fortunately someone saw and rang a warning bell!
By the time assistance came my way my screams were very loud;
They drew the attention of my Mother, somewhere in the crowd.
When she saw my predicament she fainted right away!
To see her darling's arms like that .....rolling on their way!
Someone came with a hammer and broke the machine in two
And soon my poor little mangled arms were very much in view.
The setting had been 'Blankets' and I was a skinny child,
And so my injuries, I'm glad to say, were tolerably mild.
Still, I had to have time off school and I had to wear two slings.
'Silly girl!' my mother said.......among lots of other things!
*
If it had occured in modern times consider the situation!
With lawyers rubbing their hands in glee at the thought of the litigation!
*

13 comments:

jfb57 said...

Really great post but Miss Jenny is going to be awful cross with you & all those words!

Lynn said...

A very nice tribute to your sister:@)

Kelly Sedinger said...

Nicely done, really and truly.

Dazee Dreamer said...

Very sweet memories of your sister.

Judie said...

A lovely post! And who cares if you used all those words! I'm glad you did!!!

cj Schlottman said...

Wonderful tribute to you sister. She must have been loved b all

Namaste..........cj

Susan Anderson said...

What a beautiful and touching poem about your sister.

=)

21 Wits said...

I too had an older sister that left far too early, and I miss her still everyday! great poem! Thanks!

Nonna said...

Outstanding !
I love this as I do all of your poems...Bravo !

Unknown said...

Dear Brenda,
Your two story-poems are amazing. The first poem about your sister who was a nurse in Scotland, and whose patients sang "You are my Sunshine" at her funeral, gives me goose-flesh. The little detail about a secular song not to be sung in a church funeral in Scotland, could have been Sweden.

The second story was almost too much for me; a nightmare for any parent!

It is indeed a privilege to have you link with us. Hang the number of words! I am so happy that you are with us! I'm sure Jenny will agree with me.

Best wishes,
Anna
Sanna's Sunshine SC Wk 66

This is my cat's blog post about the letter "P":
P is for Presents - Sara Cat AT-rd-3-P

bj said...

oops...you MIGHT have gone over on the amt. of words, but this is such a nice tribute to your sis, Miss Jenny surely won't mind. :))
Very nice indeed.
xo bj

Cheryl said...

Very moving post for your sister.

Jenny said...

What a beautiful memory of your sister. It took me a minute to realize that the women in the bottom picture were cut-outs. I was kind of thinking Stepford wives for a moment there...thank heavens I was wrong.

What a scary thing to have happen. I can't imagine being caught in a wringer. Acccckk!

Thanks for taking us along this week. Your writing always feels like I'm sitting at your table, having a cup of tea, and listening to you reminisce.

Just lovely.