50 Years (poem) by Tiffany Lynn Simar on AuthorsDen

50 Years
by Tiffany Lynn Simar → (All Poetry by Tiffany Lynn Simar)
Monday, January 30, 2017 Rated "G" by the Author.

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About my grandfather's life and Alzheimer's
50 Years If 50 years could tell the tale of a man such as I They would speak so highly of my second wife Her wisdom and her beauty Her kindness and her grace And of all we have done together Living on good times and our faith The camping and four wheeling with our buddies in the woods The many picnics we had with family And our travels through the Smokey Mountains and to Georgia When the gas was covered in cents The family parties and the games out in the yard Teaching my daughter how to do "guy work" because cooking and baking with her mother was not fun enough The moments with my grandkids Blowing circles of smoke from my pipe The wisdom I imparted on them The happiness of a family life Alzheimer's took this from me Like a thief in the night Those doors and windows once open Are slowly closing in my mind The olden days are strong The golden years of youth My wife is now my mom This year she will be one hundred and two My family struggles to keep it together But it's killing them to see me this way I am not the me I was before That life has gone astray Although I am still vibrant My body in good shape It isq the brain that gets ya The dust clogged wheels churning yearning for a break I still pick and love and live through the gray I still have dreams and ambitions Those have not gone away I may be turning 83 in May but I will not stop My beginning is still going and my ending is up to God So let me enjoy Fairbanks, Alaska and the Army and my job Those women with the nice shapes who were good lookin' And my buddies I raised hell with who would often save me from myself The dances down in First Fork and Renovo and around The swimming at the Ring Rock with the girl who had my heart The hunting and the fishing and the howling hound dogs on the run I was the best of the best and gave my kill to the ladies who never had much Pumping gas at my grandfather's gas station The grandfather who spelled words just as they sound And the grandmother who birthed most of the babies in Sinnemahoning And my freedom to galavant around The motorcycle rides with Buck Where we showed off for the Rafferty girls Wrecking once because we were too busy looking at them And all they did was laugh at us As we picked ourselves up and carried on And Lee Goss with his size 12 shoe Coming to my rescue at the dance That man could jump and kick the lights out What a scene for all who were there Then us trying to make it with a girl but we thought her husband was coming home We broke through the screen door trying to escape only to find out it was one of her girlfriends coming over The women laughed at our excitement and we both felt silly What we would not do just for a kiss or a smile from the girls who were always so pretty I have lived such a full and rich life Only for this disease to try and cripple me But I am strong and will continue to embrace life Why? You ask Because that is surely what Chauncey Logue's do! By, Tiffany Simar 1/30/17 *For my grandfather

Reviewed by Ronald Hull

Reviewed on January 31, 2017

Practically a biography in a poem. So very well done. Showing what happens to a mind losing its capability except to remember the past. Reminds me of my grandmother and her struggle from 85 to 90 years of age.

Could it be the gasoline fumes while pumping gas at his grandfather's gas station that began the deterioration of brain cells.?

Ron

Reviewed by Michael Schafer

My mom had Alzheimer's. It's a terrible disease that no one deserves.