People born before 1900.
Pop, my paternal grandfather,
was a circuit-riding Methodist preacher,
taught in his youth in a rural one-room school,
got the attention of the farmer boys
by lifting a boulder they could not move
in clearing an area for sports. Pop could have tried
for Olympic glory in pole vaulting but it was
an old new idea that didn't draw him.
Grandmom, his wife sought out kids living in chicken coops
during the Depression to invite them to Sunday school.
Granddaddy, Mother's dad, was raised to be a Baptist preacher,
named for an evangelist. Joined the Methodists,
was inspired to tithe, did, when money was tight,
and when giving buildings came from the tenth,
was recognized as Mr. Methodist in West Texas,
paid the patent fee on machinery he designed
that was stolen from him when that company did not.
Grandmother was a lady, more educated than her husband,
a faithful helpmate and mother. I could speak of their ancestors,
a precious heritage, and all of them make me who I am.
I have worth, and I know that for they gave me theirs,
These saints love me, and God loves me,
so I will live tis day without fear and be grateful
for all the saints who show me the path.
Pop, my paternal grandfather,
was a circuit-riding Methodist preacher,
taught in his youth in a rural one-room school,
got the attention of the farmer boys
by lifting a boulder they could not move
in clearing an area for sports. Pop could have tried
for Olympic glory in pole vaulting but it was
an old new idea that didn't draw him.
Grandmom, his wife sought out kids living in chicken coops
during the Depression to invite them to Sunday school.
Granddaddy, Mother's dad, was raised to be a Baptist preacher,
named for an evangelist. Joined the Methodists,
was inspired to tithe, did, when money was tight,
and when giving buildings came from the tenth,
was recognized as Mr. Methodist in West Texas,
paid the patent fee on machinery he designed
that was stolen from him when that company did not.
Grandmother was a lady, more educated than her husband,
a faithful helpmate and mother. I could speak of their ancestors,
a precious heritage, and all of them make me who I am.
I have worth, and I know that for they gave me theirs,
These saints love me, and God loves me,
so I will live tis day without fear and be grateful
for all the saints who show me the path.
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