Strands of Memory: Reprised

Contents

Love

For My Love on Her 69th Birthday

For My Love on Valentine’s Day

For EMB

My Continuing Christmas Gift

For Else-Marie on Valentine’s Day

For Else-Marie at Christmas

A Thank You to Kathleen

For EMB on Her 70th Birthday

Other Ways to Say I Love You

For Maura on the Big 55

For Great Grandson David Matthew

For Sean T. on His 51st Birthday

For Katie on Her 16th Birthday

For Leah on Her Birthday

For Tamra on Her 36th Birthday

For Tim on His 20th Birthday

For Kathy on Her Birthday

On Bill’s Birthday

For Joanne

For Kaila on Her 4th Birthday

For LB on His 23rd Birthday

For Laine on Her 26th Birthday

For Maura Gail

For Jackie on Her 33rd Birthday

For Kaylyn on Her 10th Birthday

A Note to My Nephew Frank

For Kevin and Brian’s 62nd Birthday

For Sean and Leah

For Victor on His 11th Birthday

For Leah

For Maura on Her Birthday

Twins

A Tribute to My Brother Frank

For Kolby on Her 10th Birthday

For Sean T. on His 49th Birthday

For Sean L. on His 32nd Birthday

For Victor on His 10th Birthday

For Laine on Her 24th Birthday

For Siara, Writer/Editor

For Laine

For Grace on Her 3rd Birthday

On Sean and Leah’s Wedding Day

For Lina on Her Birthday

For Kathy

For Joanne on Her Birthday

For Sean L on His 31st Birthday

For Mikie on Her 29th Birthday

For Siara

For Tamra on Her 34th Birthday

For Kaila on Her 3rd Birthday

For Kaylyn on Her 11th Birthday

For Lina on Her 43rd Birthday

For LB on His 21st Birthday

For Maura on Her 54th Birthday

For Joanne on Her Birthday II

My Sons, The Entertainers

For Kathy on Her 60th Birthday

For Kaylyn on Her Ninth Birthday

For Jackie L.

For Grace on Her 2nd Birthday

For Kaila on Her Fifth Birthday

For Mikie on Her 30th Birthday

For Sean L on His 33rd Birthday

Fraulein Else-Marie

Kindness

To a Wonderful Friend

For Clarence on His 41st Birthday

For My Friend Peggy

For My Friend Janet

Sheila

For My Friend Bernadette

For My Friend Janice

For My Friend Jim

For Sam

Kelley and Katie’s Visit

For Lucille on Her Birthday

Memories

An Agonizing and Arduous Time

The Uniform

New Beginnings

Cape Cod Spring

Cape Cod Diversions

Sea Glass

The Osprey

Gifts from the Sea

Clamming for Steamers

(Soft-shell clams)

Driftwood

The Spring and Summer of 2010

Signs of Spring on Cape Cod

The Noisy Woodpeckers

The Best Cape Cod Summer

In 50 Years

Tornado

Elicited Memories

The Women in My Life

Nurses and Hospitals

The Doctor-Patient Relationship

My Summer at the Farm

A Message for My Children

A Poet’s Wish

At Christmas Time 2009

Images

The Entertaining Arts

Outpatient Surgery

The Depression at Christmas

Sobriety

The Plumber’s Gofer

A Delayed College Enrollment

Christmas Morning

My Prescription for Loneliness

Our Honeymoon

A Speech Malady

Agonizing

I Regret

Our Ordeal

Counting My Blessings

Identifying My Challenges

Noteworthy Events of 2010

A Blessing

Dedication

For My Wife

Kathleen Lucille (Doheny) Tracey

For My Children

William Raymond Tracey, Jr.

Kevin Thomas Tracey

Brian John Tracey

Kathleen Lucille Bastille

Maura Gail Tarbania

Sean Michael Tracey

For My Grandchildren

Tamra Lee Letellier Lumpkin

Jacqueline Marie Munson

Michele Marie Coffman

Sean Keenan Letellier

Laine Tracey Tarbania

William Raymond Tracey III

Timothy Patrick Tracey

Kathleen Elizabeth Tracey

Victor Carrillo Tracey

Kolby Lynne Tracey

Kaylyn Michele Tracey

Siara Carrillo Tracey

For My Great Grandchildren

Kaila Lee Lumpkin

Grace Marie Munson

David Matthew Munson

For My Friend and Companion

Else-Marie Birgit Bowe

Be calm and serene

Change your attitude toward life

By will and prayer

Don’t live with regrets

Fix the emotive damage

By self-forgiveness

Foreword

This book continues the saga of the Tracey-O’Neill—the life and times of an Irish-French Canadian (with a smattering of American Indian, Spanish, and Swiss ancestors). When I completed the two earlier volumes of this trilogy, Stands of Memory and Strands of Memory Revisited, I thought that I had exhausted the subject, that there was nothing left to write about. I was very wrong. I have remembered so many subjects, memories, incidents, and mental meanderings in the few years since their publication that I now have the contents of several additional books—but time and my advancing age will prevent the extension of this writing genre from continuing indefinitely. So this volume must be my swan song, rather than just an encore or curtain call. Regretfully, I have neither enough time nor the energy to undertake another volume.

During my long life, I have stored information and memories from my experiences. Since I started writing, I have tried to make some sense of those events. It’s my belief that, when we are not able to understand fully the events that have occurred, we externalize the information. By doing so, we gain an entirely different perspective, thus allowing us to think more clearly and rationally about the difficult or perplexing events and emotions in our lives. Verse is my way of externalizing and comprehending more fully my thoughts and feelings about my experiences. But it is also an invaluable means of releasing pent-up emotions and for painting beautiful, sad, or joyous pictures with words.

But the process and the advantages of externalizing experiences are not the only reason I write verse. I also use poetry as a powerful tool for sharing sometimes confusing and other times perfectly clear concepts. My intentions also vary. I often simply want to share something that has touched me in some profound way, or I my use the venue to get help in allaying uncertainty, anxiety, or ambiguity. That is, poetry can be therapeutic for both the author and readers, allowing them to work through the issues and problems in their lives to find clarity, consolation, and peace, even solutions.

Fortunately for me, poetry as an art form now allows writers to record their life experiences and share their poetic vision with others in a great variety of styles and forms, from more or less intricate rhyme schemes to free verse, a complete lack of rhyme. Although none of the poems in this collection involve complex rhyming, they include both verse in simple rhyming and straight-forward narrative forms.

In some of my verses, I am trying to speak to certain readers more than others—to children, young parents, and older people who share many of my problems and experiences. Verse also affords an opportunity to reevaluate ourselves, our relationships with others, and our status and position in life. However, it always important for readers to keep in mind that each verse is the voice of a poet trying to reach them in some palpable way. Yet, I believe that in some way almost every reader can relate to the topics and themes expressed in my poems. They address important and often timely issues and topics that might otherwise be ignored. So, I hope that each verse conveys its own message and provides a means of expression for diverse attitudes and fresh insights.

Once again, these poems. whether rhyming or free verse, are the songs of my life, cataloged under the headings of love. family, friendship, war, nature, and life and death. Writing them was an emotional challenge—essentially reliving difficult times, happy events—joyful, cheerful, thorny, testing, frustrating, painful, formidable experiences—important and often timely issues and topics that might otherwise be ignored. So, I hope that each verse conveys its own message and provides a means of expression for diverse attitudes and fresh insights.

In summary, the verses that follow represent the distilled essence of my long life—impressions and visions that I hope will inspire readers at this point in their journey through life. I hope that they enjoy them.

WRT

Listen to these words

They are the songs of my life

Store them in your heart

Love

Love and family,

Friendship, War, Nature, and Life,

These are my themes

Love

Here are my thoughts about us on your birthday.

I believe that we share these blessings:

Being in love—a magical place.

Needing love—a common place.

Giving love—a marvelous place.

Accepting love—a necessary place.

Being loved—a special place.

Sharing love—an exceptional place.

We both live in those wondrous places,

settings that make life not only worth living

but also infinitely fulfilling.

I am totally grateful to you for those gifts

and the years that I have enjoyed them.

I’m hoping for another decade or more

to revel in sharing them with my love.

For My Love on Her 69th Birthday

It’s hard to believe that another year has passed.

In many ways it has not