Saturday, January 25, 2020

An Object Passed On and On...

(Almost....)


Inscription from My Grandmother to My Mother
Photo by Amy LV




Students - Today's poem is just a little bit of free verse about an object - a poem book that lives in my family. Yesterday my friend Brett Vogelsinger shared this photo and question on Twitter.


Well, I DID remember! My mother had this book when I was a child, and I remember reading it over and over again, just loving the images and words. As it happens, last night I visited my mom and found the copy. 

A Family Favorite
(The spots on on the cover were likely made by me!)
Photo by Amy LV

My mom's mom (my grandmother) had given the book to my own mother as a gift, and she had made notes on the pages of some of her favorite poems. My grandma and mom were both teachers, and this was a teacher-to-teacher present given early in my mom's teaching career. Below you can see my grandma as a young woman. She always loved poetry, and both she and her father - my great grandfather John Conolly - wrote poems.

Florence (Dorrie) Conolly Dreyer as a Young Woman

Notes from Grandma
Photo by Amy LV

I feel lucky that my grandmother wrote in this book and lucky that my mom has kept it. Even though Grandma has been gone from a long time, through these notes and favorite poems, she speaks to us again. 

Do you have an object in your home that brings to mind someone important to you? While one person might look at a particular object and not see anything special, objects do hold and hide stories and connections. Sometimes we just need to sit with something, hold it, think about it, and listen. Writing can be slow that way. Slow is good.

I have happy news! After a long hiatus, there is a post at my other blog, Sharing Our Notebooks. Stephanie Affinito has shared her wonderful 'One Little Thing' notebook which has already inspired me to begin one of my own. Visit the post and comment by February 2 for a chance to win a copy of Ralph Fletcher's A WRITER'S NOTEBOOK.

Kathryn is hosting this week's Poetry Friday roundup...all the way from Australia...at Kathryn Apel. Visit her post for a couple of poems and a short clip describing one of her author visits to the US. We invite everybody to join in each Friday as we share poems, poem books, poetry ideas, and friendship. Check out my left sidebar to learn where to find this poetry goodness each week of the year.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

10 comments:

  1. Love reading your story, Amy. I have this book, though not this edition, and I used it often in the classroom. I do have a few things passed on, mostly with grandparents' names inside, but not like your inscription. That is special.

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  2. Oh, I remember that book. I had several copies when I was teaching. Sadly, I left many of my books for the teacher who took my place. I miss them. (I've purchased some of them again, but it's not the same.)

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  3. I love this! And now you have me thinking about objects passed on. I think I have more than a few I can include in my 52 stories project for 2020. I have the book which I used when I did my student teaching in the 70s. And I still loved sharing it with students in this century. And now I'm off to look for a book on my shelf with an inscription. (Found it, inscribed Dec. 1947)
    Happy Saturday, Amy!

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  4. Mary Lee took the words out of my mouth! I've always treasured inscribed books--those inscribed to me, or those inscribed to others that I've discovered in used book stores. Such stories linger between the pages! Thanks for sharing yours.

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  5. This is one of my favorite poetry collections--Your post today is like visiting an old friend. I loved reading your story with this book. Like Ramona, I'm thinking about those passed-on objects around my home.

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  6. Beautiful post, Amy! Thank you for sharing your treasure.

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  7. Ah ha! Here you are. I wondered if you were going to make this Poetry Friday. Oh, do I love how verses and cursive rhyme. I treasure the recipes I have in my grandmothers hands.

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  8. Trying *uite hard to let go of a lot of things, but some actual objects are indeed precious treasures. Hold tight!

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  9. Anything that has handwriting from a loved one scattered throughout is a treasure. But wow - in a poetry book. That is super-special!

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