博客存档 - FordeFables

November 30th, 2014.

30/11/2014

Thought for today:
"Isn't it strange how opposite personalities often seem to offer the greatest attractions? It is also one of life's conundrums that the longer a marriage exists the more like each other the couple grow and the shared mannerisms they gradually adopt. It is not unheard of that they have a dog or some other pet that grows to look like them!

Lasting relationships will grow to respect their diversities and love their similarities, and in doing so they will thrive as a contented couple." William Forde: 30th November, 2014.

November 29th, 2014.

29/11/2014

Thought for today:
"Today is a good day. It is the most blessed of days in the calendar of love. It is Sheila's birthday and I can tell you with every confidence that the angels above are aware of her presence on this earth.

It would be most ungentlemanly of me to tell you her age; not that you would believe me in the slightest if I did! Let's say, look at her, think of how old she looks and then add on another decade. She is the only woman I have ever known, who in her youth put the Mona Lisa to shame with the beauty of her radiant smile and the hidden depth of her sparkling eyes that contains unspoken promises yet to yield .

Until I met Sheila, I never knew that a person could naturally be so selfless, so generous and so sensitive to the needs of another. In the four years I have known her, I have neither heard one bad word escape her lips about another person nor have I ever come across anyone who thought unkindly of her. Oh what we wouldn't give to be held in such high regard by those who know us!

When we first met in Gascoigns in Haworth on December 15th, 2010, little did I realise then that we would be wed within two years on my 70th birthday. Six months after we had married, I was diagnosed with a terminal illness and although it did seem most unfair at the time, I can honestly say that the past two years have been the happiest I have ever known. Not only has Sheila been there for me, but from first opening my eyes on a morning to closing them at night, she has lovingly attended to my every need. I tell you most truly, no man was ever loved as much as I am. I was recently asked by a young person what it was like to be truly loved, so I took hold of their ipod and deleted all the music on it except one song; the one they loved the most. Then I recited the poem I wrote for Sheila which I enclose below. Happy birthday sweetheart. I love you dearly. Bill xxx

"If tomorrow starts without me, don't let it spoil your day,
I'll still be there to guide you,
I know you'll find your way.
For you're everyone and everything that life did mean to me,
I wouldn't see you wanting and I'd always see you free
to walk where Nature takes you, to do what you must do,
to dance when the urge moves you and to learn to sit out too.

If tomorrow starts without me, you will not be alone,
for they'll be no grieving or despair,
no fond memories to disown.
The thing that made me love you on first sight
that very day we met,
was how you stood out from the crowd in a way I won't forget.

You stood so proud and walked so tall as though you wore a crown,
I turned at once to leave you there, but you bade me to sit down.
I gazed upon your features as you softly spoke your name
and when I sat beside you, I sensed you'd lit the flame.

Once ignited with your power of love and the onslaught of your heart,
the passion in my loins stirred deep, no movement there could part
the marriage of our very souls, the gel that bound our love,
the joined-up sparks of mis-spent youth, the love coo of a dove.

We laughed, we kissed, we talked, we joked, we courted then we wed,
and though fourteen years divided us, you took me to your bed.
Even though you were my lady, the one fit to wear the crown,
you placed that bauble on my head and let me rule our home.

Each precious hour and moment since
you've met my every need,
from morning light 'til evening dark, you let me take the lead.
No more could one man ask for from the woman of his dreams,
no Sheila better served or loved a man like me it seems."

November 29th, 2014.

November 28th, 2014.

28/11/2014

Thought for today:
"Reflect on present blessings and stay happy. Think not upon past misfortunes whose principal home of residence is sadness and bitter regret. Be kinder to self; stay blind to the faults of others and your eyes shall see the shadows of mankind's positive intentions and the substance of his good deeds." William Forde : November 28th, 2014.

November 27th, 2014.

27/11/2014

Thought for today:
"Your past follows you like a field of fallen snow with differing depths of feeling imprints to match your many experiences. Feelings that weighed you down more one day than another; feelings that lightened your spirits 'til you felt you walked on air, and feelings so sad that their tears sank beneath the earth's surface and formed an ice cap of bitterness that seemed impenetrable.

Be wary not to carelessly step upon the fragile feelings of others as you walk through life. Be careful how you pave your own path, for every step you choose will leave its imprint and reveal in its wake the nature of life's traveller you truly were." William Forde: November 27th, 2014.

November 26th, 2014.

26/11/2014

Thought for today:
"I fortunately gave up smoking around ten years ago. I had my first cigarette at the age of 9 years (a Woodbine), and smoked for the next fifty years. Two heart attacks at the age of 59 years and a twenty-year 'smoker's cough' still couldn't convince me that I needed to give up.

Between the ages of 59 and 62 I twice tried to stop smoking. Each time I lasted a mere three months before giving out to temptation. On my third attempt, I succeeded and have not smoked since;approximately ten years.

My cough went immediately and my lung capacity improved significantly. I have no doubt that I could still enjoy a puff, but don't have the desire for one. There is no 'best way' for one to give up smoking as it seems to be 'each to his own.' We each have different mind sets and philosophical views; hence some approaches are more or less suitable for one smoker than another wanting to quit ther habit. For some, gradual withdrawal will work, whilst others require hypnosis, shock tactics or plain cold turkey.

I have always been a bit of a 'control freak,' so I found that being able to view myself as 'an addict' to tobacco did the trick. Once I had it firmly established in my mind that 'something other than me was controlling my body,' the battle was over and there was only one winner; me!
However, an addict I was and an addict I shall remain. I will never describe myself as a 'non-smoker', but instead as a 'tobacco addict who no longer smokes'. Like the alcoholic and other drug addicts, I know that I am only one cigarette away from smoking again." William Forde: November 26th, 2014.

November 25th, 2014.

25/11/2014

Thought for today:
"The way that many young children speak to their parents today leaves much to be desired and also leaves one in no doubt as to the general demise in their level of respect; particularly in areas of manners and consideration for their elders.

In my day there was a clear pecking order. With regard to child safety, children were of paramount consideration to the whole community, but in respect of child consideration, children came at the bottom of the pecking order.

Children gave up their seat on a bus for any standing adult without being asked to and never spoke without invitation in the company of adults. The old saying of 'children being seen and not heard' was far from being an old wife's tale. These were the days when both boy and girl in their teens often rode the tandem of both school and work; occupying themselves on paper rounds, potato picking, hay ricking or any other spare-time activity that could be performed outside the school day and contribute to family coffers.

Even when a young person went to work, all of their unopened wage packet found its way into the family budget (with the exception of a few bob that was returned for spending money), and it stayed that way until one either got engaged or left home and got married. And children took this as a perfectly proper thing for them to do. Indeed, how could they possibly think this custom strange or otherwise when even dad tipped up his unopened wage packet to the mother of the house? How different things are today; for better or worse, I'm not quite sure?

As a life-long student of history, it has always amused me that during those olden days of abject poverty where there was always less money coming in than going out, mother kept control of the purse strings and was held responsible for there being food on the table. Surprisingly, when household income started to exceed expenditure and there started to be more coming in than was owed out, that was when the father of the household started to assume budget responsibility. Funny old world, aint it?" William Forde: November 25th, 2014.

November 24th, 2014.

24/11/2014

Thought for today:
"Hold on fast to Nature for it is the most nourishing of all assets in one's daily life.

If there are but three things on this earth that reveals the very purpose for being here, it is the birth of a creature, the innocence of a child and the presence of Nature's influence all around us.

Little does this child know and truly appreciate that what now fills her hands is the source and sustenance of all contentment; the capturing of Nature's sun trap, the changing of one season to the next and the growth of child into adult." William Forde: November 24th, 2014.

November 23rd, 2014

23/11/2014

Thought for today:
"Have you ever had one of those days when nothing has gone to plan and you haven't had the time to take a pee. Don't despair because help is at hand.

Sit yourself down and take in three deep breaths, then count to ten and resolve to do something about it. Now, doesn't that make you feel much better?

Now seek out the gaffer and tell him that you don't feel you were destined for the job of a cleaner and general dog's body. Just because you married a Mr Mopp or a Basil Brush only makes you one in name only.

Look your boss straight in the eye and in your boldest of voices tell him, 'Stick your job Buster where the sun don't shine. Come next Monday, I'm off down to the job centre and see if there's any of them there fashion model jobs going. My legs are as good as the next girl's, so pick up a brush and clean your own floors!'

Now doesn't that make you feel much better?" William Forde: November 23rd, 2014.

November 22nd, 2014.

22/11/2014

Thought for today:
"Over the past ten years, women have started breaking through the glass ceiling of corporate finance and high business. Once, it was only possible for a woman to climb to the top of the corporate ladder provided it was leaned against the bed of some male executive who towered above her and to whom she waited on hands and knees. It was even said by a few that if one was a woman trying to get on in the world, this would only be possible if she was prepared to do for her male boss, that which his wife wouldn't!

Thank God for a more enlightened change in general attitude and the introduction of sexual legislation today and welcome to discrimination tribunals, more assertive women and the right of women being able to wear the trousers if they chose to do so!" William Forde:November 22nd, 2014.

November 21st, 2014.

21/11/2014

Thought for today:
"At the age of 21 years, one of the books that changed my life and helped to make me a much better and more contented person was, 'The Power of Positive Thinking' by Norman Vincent Peale, an American writer and minister of the cloth. He reminded me that no situation is ever so dark that there is not a ray of light, providing one is prepared to look for it. So, never despair, for even at the worse time of your life there is a way through your battle and a more productive path forward to follow." William Forde : November 22nd, 2014.

November 20th, 2014.

20/11/2014

Thought for today:
"When I grow up I will never cry for what I do not have or never need. I will listen to all argument whether I agree or not and will never come down on the side of wrong over what I know and believe to be right, however close or distant in my affections the debater be.

I shall keep my friends forever close and will never lose sight or contact with my family or my parents' values. I will continue to love all form of Nature and seek to protect all species of animals from its greatest predator, mankind.

And as for you Teddy, do not fear that you will be discarded and banished to the darkness of the loft, for you will always sleep beneath the warmth of my bed sheets and share the comfort of my pillow for all the days of my life. And if any man dares to object to your presence, then they will do so from the confines of their own bed!" William Forde: November 20th, 2014.

November 19th, 2014.

19/11/2014

Thought for today:
"When I was young there was a favourite spot to which I would regularly go in order to think things through and look towards the future.

Mine was a bridge that overlooked water below. Sometimes I would convince myself that if I looked hard enough towards the horizon, somehow I would be able to see what lay in store for me during the years ahead and the places I would travel to.

By the time I'd reached the age of twelve, I readily accepted that I would never be able to look into the future, but in later years I did discover the great advantage to one's wellbeing there is by being able to look into the past and to learn from some of the things we have seen and done; something all of us can do.

Without seeing past mistakes we could never learn to do things correctly. Without recognising past wrongs, how could we ever hope to put things right once more? In short, without the past there can be no future for any of us. This wonderful photo which Shirley Robson gave me her permission to reproduce reminded me of the bridge of my youth. Did you have your favourite thinking place?" William Forde: November 19th, 2014.

November 18th, 2014.

18/11/2014

Thought for today:
"The weather over the next three months is forecast to be very wet and stormy, so better stay well covered up!

There are times in all of our lives when stormy climates loom large and threaten havoc. At such times we do well to stick close to good neighbours, families and friends and remain ever closer to our God and long-held beliefs. For it from such stable factors in our lives that we are able to ride out the storm and emerge at the other side all the stronger for it.

When Christmas morning dawns this year and you begin to unwrap your Christmas gifts, forget not the presents of infinite value that you have always possessed, but may have left unwrapped at some critical junctures of your life.

Think upon the ballast of brotherhood that good friends have offered you during times of need. Think upon the closeness that your dear mother gave you during periods when comfort was most sought and the remainder of the world seemed so distant. Think upon the quiet and often unvoiced love that your father felt for you during all the days of his life. Think upon the love of your brothers and sisters who might fiercely argue with you, but who would shed their blood for you if needs must. Think upon the love of your wife, partner and soul mate; the one whom without would leave your shadow incomplete. Think upon the unqualified love that your dog has bestowed on you since you first took her to your heart. Think upon God's love that will never desert you however badly you behave or undeserving you become of it.Think upon all these things and hold on tight to them and no storm will ever be tempestuous enough to rock you from your moorings.

Christmas will soon be upon us. Please God that mankind can find the true spirit of the season which has always lain there ready to be picked up by all who genuinely believe that we each are part of a greater whole. Know that if we travel through our lives ignoring any other traveller in need or shunning any other who seeks to walk alongside us, we remain incomplete in the fullness of the person we were meant to be." November 18th, 2014.

November 17th, 2014.

17/11/2014

Thought for today:
"I never grew so tall as the day I learned to read. I never heard or saw one thing in life that had never graced the page of some book.

Reading is so much more than the development of intellect or the advancement of scholarly learning. It is nothing less than opening the gateway to one's dreams and revealing passages which can only be travelled by an ability to lose oneself in the dreams of another, enabling one to awaken to the dawn of a new and more pleasant day.

If you truly love your child and want to give them a Christmas present that will stretch their imagination in time, place and culture besides learning how to interweave one idea to another, then buy them a book and sit back and watch them grow.

It has been shown through many studies over the years that parents who read to their children from their earliest of years are those parents who go on to listen to their children read to them. True expanse of knowledge comes when the child eventually finishes up a brainier adult than their parent and first teacher." November 17th, 2014.

November 16th, 2014.

16/11/2014

Thought for today:
"I have always been a lover of blending image and word and have therefore enjoyed those silly one-liners and puns that many comedians use as the bread and butter part of their act and many children have the ability to effortlessly come out with. I include a few of my favourites below:

When I was young I tried to catch some fog,but mist.

Moses always knew how to make a good cup of tea. Hebrews it!

I stayed awake all night trying to figure it out, but it was morning before it dawned on me.

I'm reading a book about anti-gravity and I just can't put it down.

Ask any woman. PMS jokes just aren't funny. Period!

I never liked my beard until it grew on me.

When you get a bladder infection you can truly say that urine trouble.

Let's face it, broken pencils are pointless.

We have a parish priest in Haworth who always concludes his Sunday sermons with a joke that enables his weekly congregation to return home all the more cheerful for having heard it. He is a lovely, caring, sensitive and selfless man who would never take the Michael and yet he appreciates that in this often too serious world of ours that laughter must never lose its spot in the theatre of life. I won't probably be around when the day finally arrives that he draws last breath, but I'm willing to wager that any last words he has to say will make the angels laugh out loud." William Forde: November 16th, 2014.

November 15th, 2014.

15/11/2014

Thought for today:
"Good friends are truly worth holding onto for they are few and far between in the span of one's life. They are not only there in times of genuine need, but are there for you whatever the circumstances or the manner of inconvenience it may cause. They will tell you the truth, however uncomfortable when nothing less than the full truth will suffice. At times of crucial importance they will reveal their 'true friendship' by being prepared to risk hurting your feelings in order to do what they believe to be in your best interest.The best of friends will remain in frequent contact while the oldest of friends may not see each other for half a century or more while never forgetting.

I recently met up with Tony Walker, an old friend of my past who I grew up with on Windybank Estate, went to school with, played with and who I hadn't seen for over sixty years. I would never have believed how easy it was to slip back into the youth of childhood years with so little effort, yet with an accuracy of recollection that enabled one to remember the minutia of one particular afternoon during one's childhood of the 1950s.

The recall of such moments remind me that we all store both happy and sad images in our memory bank and there is no experience that is ever truly expunged from our inner senses, however pleasant or painful it may prove to be. Hence, the ability we all possess to forgive, but not forget!

So think not upon bad times today for there is much happiness stored away that only requires taking out." William Forde: November 15th, 2014.

November 14th, 2014.

14/11/2014

Thought for today:
"There is both a wildness and sensitivity in all of us that is capable of either crushing or caressing what we touch in life.

Most of us are capable of recognising raw beauty or appreciating the bravery of an act. Yet there are but few capable of smelling the fragrance of a flower whose scent has passed and whose stem remains a shadow of its former self in more ragged body form as it droops evermore towards the ground.

I remember standing in a post office queue when I was eight years old. Two places in front of me was an old woman with a curved spine that made her face constantly look towards the ground. She was aided by a walking stick and moved very slowly. She appeared to be in her eighties.

Behind her and immediately in front of me in the queue was a loud and somewhat coarsely-spoken woman in her forties who was clearly impatient by the slow movement of the queue. As the queue progressed closer towards the counter, the old woman momentarily faltered in her step and paused for breath; thereby creating a space in front of her. Upon seeing this space, the woman behind her jumped her place in the line and moved ahead of the old woman.

'Do you mind?' the old woman said to the queue jumper, 'but you have just taken my place.'

In an angry voice the impatient queue jumper replied, 'And who do you think you are granny? You're too old to be out and about anyway. You're just a twisted old woman with an old stick. You should let the Nursing Home collect your pension and stop holding up the traffic!'

The old lady looked up towards the rude woman and politely replied, 'If you must know, my name is Mildred Sayer; 'Miss' Mildred Sayer to you and Milly to my very close friends and remaining family members. Today I may not appear as swift on my feet as I once was, but I'll have you know that I got a silver cup for winning the mile when I was fourteen years old. At the age of sixteen, I was a beautiful young girl with the finest set of curls that ever crowned a maiden's head. I worked in the civil service during the war years and after the war, despite receiving four proposals of marriage; one from a Prussian prince and all of which I declined, I decided to live in India for fourteen years running an orphanage for abandoned children. At the age of 64 years I was awarded the CBE for my services to humanity and when I was 74 years old, I survived two operations to remove cancerous tissue from my body. I am now in my eighty fourth year and though the curvature of my spine prevents me from looking you directly in the face, your overall tone and demeanour denotes you as a person who has fallen foul of life and out of love with herself. Oh, and by the way, you are not the first person to see me as an old woman of insignificance with a stick and you no doubt won't be the last, but be not mistaken; I am much much more than your eyes can see.'

While I cannot recall with the passage of time that has lapsed the precise words that the elderly lady spoke, they approximate the sentiments that I've unfolded above and which my fading memory can accurately bring to mind." William Forde: November 14th, 2014.

November 13th, 2014.

13/11/2014

Thought for today:
"Have you noticed how women are now branching out into all realms of society today? They are now touching bases which no feminine hand ever previously handled and are entering manly domains that once were the exclusive sanctums of masculinity personified.

Gone are the days when the well-bred man could go to his club in order to escape the domestic chattering of his household or the lowly man visit the quiet of his garden shed.

When I was a boy, many miners who worked below ground for most of the week and who never saw the sunlight until the arrival of Saturday would spend most of the weekend in their gardens or garden sheds. Those lucky ones who were fortunate enough to have an allotment used to spend many a peaceful hour there in the certain knowledge that their manly peace would not be interupted by the clatter of a house full of children, the constant drone of domestic drivel in the background and household chores waiting to be done.

I still recall my father telling me that 'a man's shed is just that.....a man's shed. It is his castle and the garden that surrounds it is the moat that no woman shall ever be allowed to cross.'

Well..... being a lad at the time, I could clearly understand this common-sense view and sympathise with such natural male feelings. As my grandfather, a very wise Irish man used to frequently remind his drinking pals in the pub whenever referring to the fairer sex, 'Be very careful my friend, Give them an inch and they'll want a yard. Let them know what you earn weekly and they'll expect you to hand your weekly wage packet over unopened every week.... why, I wouldn't put it passed them to ask for pocket money next and then where will we all be? They'll expect the vote next!'

Ah........the joys of progress." William Forde: November 13th, 2014.

November 12th, 2014

12/11/2014

Thought for today:
"Today I go into hospital for another blood transfusion; the fourth in seven weeks. It's amazing what a difference in one's stride a few pints of fresh blood can make. I invariably walk into the hospital in the morning like an old guy and by teatime I bounce out like a young man on 'the pull'.

Speaking about 'Pick me up' experiences, I recently came across an old photograph on facebook which instantly took me back fifty years to the late 50s and early 60s. It is an image of the bus station in Cleckheaton, a place where the antics of our youthful night out on the town invariably ended.

The bus station used to be both pick-up and drop-off point for many a boy and his girlfriend; or occasionally where one secretly met the partner of another. If one didn't meet their new date outside the picture house (that's the cinema for you young ones), then the usual meeting stage was often under the clock or inside the waiting room of the bus station. The waiting room was invariably the place where relationships sometimes started and often ended (Remember the film 'Brief Encounter' of 1945?).

Behind the waiting room was the only dark spot where the beams of the arriving bus into the station couldn't quite reach. Consequently, it was the place where first kisses, last kisses, French kisses, heavy petting and all manner of goings on took place before the last bus home arrived in the station.

Indeed, one of my friends told the tale many times during his married life that had the last bus been on time that fatal night instead of ten minutes late, then he would never have had to experience his shot-gun wedding to his first and only girlfriend. Years later, he was still blaming the lateness of the number 67 bus for having curtailed his youth long before his time!

There are many occasions today when going through the town of Cleckheaton, I glance across at the bus station and think about happy days and nights of my wild youth. I have to admit that I also think upon the numerous affairs, forced marriages and relationship endings that the old bus shelter has contributed towards in its time by its very presence and 'away from the headlights convenience.'

The youngsters today rarely catch a bus. In fact, if truth be known, many a young man or woman wouldn't be seen dead on one. They just don't know what they're missing, especially on the back seat of the last bus of the night!" William Forde: November 12th, 2014.

November 11th, 2014.

11/11/2014

Thought for today:
"Today represents remembrance of the centenary of the First World War in 1914. While the First World War may have started out as a war to end all wars, sadly that wasn't to be. The great loss of life to both soldier and civilian and the cultural carnage caused throughout Europe left a scar upon the warring nations that will never be forgotten.

After the war, those family members who had lost their fathers, brothers, sweethearts and husbands in the battle, although greatly saddened were comforted in their loss by extended family, the surrounding community and the Government of the day.

There was however, one category of mourner who was left to grieve the loss of their loved-one alone; the unmarried lover of the dead soldier who had planned to marry her sweetheart after the war had ended. Often discouraged by parents of not starting relationships with soldiers who were destined for the battle field, many a young woman kept their soldier romance a close secret, even from their closest of friends. Some even found themselves rearing the offspring of their soldier romance during the years to follow and were branded as shameful hussies by the community at large as they struggled as unmarried mothers in the most moral of times and the meanest of circumstances.

All these women were left with were their memories of 'what might have been' had their sweetheart returned from the war. Their hearts wept as they touch their bridal gown in the privacy of their own room and mounting distress, knowing that it would never be worn.

Twenty years ago, I knew a spinster called Henrietta who was then in her eighties and whose personal circumstances mirrored the experience of such grieving war women whose sweetheart had died in battle before they had married. Henrietta or Miss Denton as others in the community knew her, became a second mum to me after the death of my own mother and for her final fifteen years of life (she died aged 94 years) we saw each other daily.

Towards the end as I nursed her during her final weeks of life in her own home, she told me the story of her secret love. Henrietta's secret sweetheart had been a soldier (whose name incidently was Bill like mine). Her sweetheart had joined up to fight in the Second World War. Having a bedridden mother and poorly father at the time, Henrietta was encouraged to feel that being the only girl in the family, her first duty was to her parents. She knew that her parents would not have approved of any courtship of their only daughter and under no circumstances would they ever have sanctioned the union of their daughter with a serving soldier, had they known of it.

For the first six months of active service and unknown to her parents and brother, Henrietta and her sweetheart exchanged letters which was facilitated by the intermediary services of a female friend she once worked with at the local mill. Seven months after going off to fight for King and country, Bill was killed in action and it would be a further two months after his death that Henrietta learned of it via conversation with another acquaintaince who knew his family. After his tragic death in the trenches, there wasn't anyone Henrietta could turn to for emotional support. There was nobody she felt she could tell her secret to so she carried it alone.

When her parents died, she then set up house with her bachelor brother and cared for him until his death. For fifty years after the death of her sweetheart, Henrietta grieved her loss alone. She was to speak to nobody of this private matter apart from myself, whom she told in the 94th year of her life shortly before her death. She bore her grief in tormented silence for almost half a century, particularly on the anniversary of each year's Remembrance Day when she cried silent tears.

I was so moved by her sad story and the secret love of Henrietta that after her death, I wrote a poem called 'Arthur and Guinevere' in her memory and the memory of all such women whose only crime had been to fall in love with a soldier whom they one day planned to marry, but who was to fall in war. I enclose the website link to 'Arthur and Guinevere' which Dame Vera Lynn greatly liked. Forget not these souls also for they too are deserving of remembrance." William Forde : November 11th, 2014. http://www.fordefables.co.uk/arthur--guinevere.html

November 10th, 2014.

10/11/2014

Thought for today:
"Today is our second wedding anniversary and it is also my birthday. It is most fitting for today's post to simply allow the words I wrote in my poem for my wife Sheila to speak my feelings: William Forde: November 10th, 2014.

'If tomorrow starts without me'

by William Forde

"If tomorrow starts without me, don't let it spoil your day,
I'll still be there to guide you,
I know you'll find your way.
For you're everyone and everything that life did mean to me,
I wouldn't see you wanting and I'd always see you free
to walk where Nature takes you, to do what you must do,
dance when the urge does move you and to learn to sit out too.

If tomorrow starts without me, you will not be alone,
for they'll be no grieving or despair,
no fond memories to disown.
The thing that made me love you on first sight
that very day we met,
was how you stood out from the crowd in a way I won't forget.

You stood so proud and walked so tall as though you wore a crown,
I turned at once to leave you there, but you bade me to sit down.
I gazed upon your features as you softly spoke your name
and when I sat beside you, I sensed you'd lit the flame.

Once ignited with your power of love and the onslaught of your heart,
the passion in my loins stirred deep, no movement there could part
the marriage of our very souls, the gel that bound our love,
the joined-up sparks of mis-spent youth, the love coo of a dove.

We laughed, we kissed, we talked, we joked, we courted then we wed,
and though fourteen years divided us, you took me to your bed.
Even though you were my lady, the one fit to wear the crown,
you placed that bauble on my head and let me rule our home.

Each precious hour and moment since
you've met my every need,
from morning light 'til evening dark, you let me take the lead.
No more could one man ask for from the woman of his dreams,
no Sheila better served or loved a man like me it seems."

To the love of my life; my wife Sheila: William Forde: Copyright: November 10th ,2014.

November 9th, 2014.

9/11/2014

Thought for today:
"There is much to be said for 'fate and destiny.' I do believe that we shall each live until the day the bullet arrives with our name upon it and the grim reaper comes knocking ever so loudly at our door and will not depart empty handed.

Soon to be 72 years of age and despite having knocked at death's door three times, I have yet to enter that next life that awaits all of us someday. If only it was left to the level of one's determination to grow old gracefully and to stay alive until way past their 100th birthday, I would gladly keep the Grim Reaper waiting for his next corpse to bury; but alas it isn't. Let's hope that like Rip Van Winkle, the Grim Reaper tires of waiting for me and sleeps on for twenty or thirty more years before he even considers calling down my way again although I know such to be wishful thinking.

Tomorrow is a twin celebration for our household. It is my 72nd birthday and is also the second wedding anniversary of me and my wife Sheila. The time has simply flown over the past two years and after a recent six-month course of chemo therapy, we decided to take a four day break up in the Lake District. We return home tomorrow in time to welcome the arrival of my daughter Rebecca from down south who is visiting us for a week. Life is good." William Forde : November 9th, 2014.

November 8th, 2014.

8/11/2014

Thought for today:
"To see any creature who is trapped and removed from the benefit of their natural resources is to see a creature who is prepared to jump through any gap that offers instant freedom. Think not too unkindly upon those who choose to migrate to greener pastures when their land grows barren and denies access to only the strong, most powerful and the wealthy, for it is a most natural part of any parent to seek improvement for their offspring where it can be found." William Forde: November 8th, 2014.

November 7th, 2014.

7/11/2014

Thought for today:
"It is truly the mark of a person who is happy with himself that he is able to fall into a pond of water lilies and emerge beaming with the delight of innocent bliss. How marvelous it is to see such a carefree approach to life and its daily experiences from a heart so young and an imagination that is still boundless with fearless extenson." William Forde : November 7th, 2014.

November 6th,2014.

6/11/2014

Thought for today:
"Is it any wonder that such a majestic-looking creature is the true king of the forest? Whom among us could ever hope to match that regal stare which seems reserved solely for monarchs who slightly disapprove; the look of absolute power that says, 'I'm here, mate and I'm staying here until I've had my afternoon nap and I choose to budge. So if you're wise, Buster, you'll hop it before I decide to dine early this evening!" William Forde: November 6th, 2014.