Poem by William Fire Ponder

This poem was given to me by my dear Uncle Charles Ponder. 

Song

Poor soldier, poor soldier, Take warning by me,

The fruits of Secession, Behold you now see.

My life is tormented,

My body confined,

My wife and dear children,

Left weeping behind.

No meat in the meat tub,

No meal in the tray,

They go to bed hungry,

And get up the same way.

And how they are to live,

I’ll declare I don’t know,

For along comes the Calvary,

Drives off my last cow.

Along comes the Cavalry

Inquiring for corn

He enquires for the tax mon.

Oh, there goes my corn

The tenth of my fodder,

They have taken at last

My wife and dear children did save in the grass.

Oh, dismal, oh, dismal

My life is to me

The fruits of secession

Behold I now see

My children is hungry

And crying for bread.

How much worse would they be

If their father was dead.

W.F. Ponder

Mom's journey has not been an easy one. When she started taking on water in December it wasn't taken care of and in April we were at the Doctor with her having difficulty breathing. Then Memorial Day she started bleeding. After 9 units of blood and 10 days in the hospital, she was released but on minimum medicines. A month later she was taking on tons of water again. 
At this point it is almost Halloween, she is doing so much better! She is angry most of the time though. The house was put on hold while she healed and it is driving her crazy. 

All this plus the fear that something major will happen again. Especially now...with Halloween. 

14 years ago we lost Daddy Halloween day, so sadness and fear are flooding thoughts...

Just a moments peace...in a crazy world

Tendrils of light filtered through the trees as the leaves danced on the cool fall breeze. It was a sad reminder of the beauty around her, finding herself so caught up in the world of stress and worry. She longed to go out and soak in the sounds of peace around her. She closed her eyes, perhaps she could escape if for just a moment. The sounds of birds danced through her mind, faintly singing their song, oblivious to the worries of the world. The breeze whirled through the trees cooling them from the summers lingering heat, changing the lush greens into a rainbow of warmth. 

But alas, time, responsibilities and tasks called her back. Back towards the stress and worry of the world, she had to live in.  

Sudden Changes

Why am I here? I need to get these thoughts out. Over a month ago my mother started having breathing problems. I was terrified that her heart was failing, as she does have congestive heart failure. She had water in her lungs and ended up getting better. 

Then I received a call that my dear Uncle was ill. He passed that week, I was devastated. He had helped my family so much when I lost my Father and Grandparents. 

When I returned mom was not feeling well. I thought she overdid it by cleaning while I was gone to the funeral, but it was worse than that. On Memorial day we rushed her to the ER. She was bleeding internally and had a hemoglobin of 6.4. She was quickly taken to ICU when her blood pressure dropped suddenly. Long story short, they found the bleeding and it had already stopped. It began to bleed again just a little. Her body was having difficulty making blood so they gave her tons of iron. Finally, she is home and her body making hemoglobin. 

My mind is still uneasy, expecting things to slide again and they might. Life is so frail and the happiness we find ourselves in breaks so suddenly.