To all of our WordPress Blog friends – Hello! Sorry about the long absence, but we have been posting much more often on Facebook lately. In any event, we are here.
More and more, our issues revolve around aging! What can you say?
My sweet wife took a stumble in the parking lot of a local mall parking lot and we all scrambled to her side to help her up. Gratefully she was bruised and sore, (but not broken) and rued the attention as she brushed off her jeans and wounded pride. I told Mary after that fall that we just have to come to grips with fact that we are getting older. Simple falls can be serious.
Today, as I drove home from San Jacinto I had a vivid memory of an older gentleman I never really knew…
When I got home I quickly wrote down this poem:
A Simple Wave
When I was nineteen I had a job setting concrete forms.
I had a 250cc motorcycle to get me back and forth.
In the mornings I took the direct path down Geneva Road.
In the evenings I chose a quieter path as I meandered home.
I’d wind up on Sandhill Road and took some side streets there
Primarily just to relax and enjoy the evening air.
On one such night I drove down a road and passed a Senior’s home
And saw an older gentleman sitting on a seat alone.
He sat there on a plastic chair contentedly staring off into space.
I waved to him not wanting to disturb his private space,
But, he waved back and seemed delighted that I had even noticed
As I continued up the road with all of the other cars that had passed.
After that, I made the detour almost every single night
to see if my elderly friend was there taking in the sights.
He was there every evening through those long summer days
And he waved more vigorously as I passed by his way.
I never knew his name or his personal history
But, in many ways, that old man left a mark on me.
I went back the following summer to retrace my path
But my silent friend was not in his chair any time I passed.
One day a wise man told me to take time for humanity,
“A kind word and a handshake would be remembered for eternity”
But, I know now that even a simple wave down a country road
Brings joy, lasting memories, and bounteous blessing untold!
John C. Macdonald, Sr
September 19, 2018
We will try to be more faithful on the blog posts, but you are all welcome to view our latest on Facebook anytime.
Love to all – Life goes on, but…
Life is especially good in Ecuador!
beautiful John!
I am on facebook too!
I am not sure what name you are under.
JoAnn
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Thank you, JoAnn. Try John Macdonald in San Clemente, Ecuador. I believe I am the only one. I will look for you as well.
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So glad the fall caused only bruises and torn jeans. Love the poem. Brought memories of an old man in a rocking chair on a porch in No. Carolina when I was stationed in the Army. I loved riding my Harley on the back roads, especially the one that went passed the old man on the porch. We always waved, never talked. And the one day he wasn’t there. And from then on just an old rocking chair on an old porch.
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Isn’t it funny how a small passing acquaintance from so many years ago lingers in one’s memories!?
We (Mary and I) are glad to make your acquaintance and look forward to many more years of friendship/communications – if from afar! God bless you and your faithful wife!
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Thank you and Mary for your kind words. Wish you the best in your retirement. My wife Gina is from Mexico and if it wasn’t for family, especially the grandkids, we would retire in Mexico. I would find me a rocking chair, a nice porch and wave to the people passing by.
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Thank you, Don. We are enjoying a fairly active life down here in Ecuador. Not too much time in the rocking chair yet. But, on the days we do take time to simply relax, this is certainly the ideal climate to do it in! Hope you are healing well.
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What a beautiful story. Love you.
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Thank you, Jess. Hope to hear from you all soon!
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Hola Amigos! I read thihs ‘in transit’ and have been busier than norm – and offline even more if that’s possible.
The poem is lovely, and I hope that Mary’s stumble was indeed as ‘easy’ as described. Once a dog bit my hand when I was living in Costa Rica, and a friend who wrote a monthly newsletter stated to all that I’d been bitten by an alligator! It was a way of saying, when others wrote with concern, ‘I state that there’s one lie in each edition’ – so he dodged the real story to keep people from worrying!
A stumble reminds us all that we can all be a bit more careful!
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Amiga – Thanks for the comment and kudos on the poem. It has to be so hard on you with limited internet coverage. Please come and visit some day and you can use our internet all day long! We miss you!
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Beautiful👍🙂
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Thank you so much!
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