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After jen43 inspired me by the Kipling poem she posted, I took the time to read some of my favorites and came across this one that I saved.  The author is unknow.  I wanted to share it with you. 

Just for a Day

It’s been a long time since I stood here.

The name on the mail box is almost gone.

A narrow winding trail, wandering down the hill to a small unpainted frame house.

It’s rusty tin roof covering it’s secret echoes of the past.

The old maple out front, faithfully awaiting the laughter of children again.

The old swing where Mama used to sit and wait for Daddy to come in from the fields,

and there’s where me and Daddy would sit and talk and wait for supper,

And here’s where he’d cut notches in the step with  his knife

While he’d tell me about how to tell right from wrong and about God and about growing up and being a man.

Here’s the old screen door that I used to stand with my nose against and watch the storms and smell the rain and dream and wonder.

The inside empty of everything but the fireplace and memories of laughter and tears.

The tiny room where I used to pray and sleep through long cold nights under pounds of quilts.

One day Daddy and I stood here on the porch and he told me that someday I’d leave and find a job, maybe far away and I’d work and learn about life,

Fight my wars, win some, and one day return home maybe just for a day, but long enough to see what used to be

And now, I find it hard to leave.

For as I walk up this trail, I remember running down it to my Mother’s arms on the first day away from home

And their faces the day I left, smiling and waving and trying to hide their tears.

I’ll just stand here and take one more look at where it began for me and where it ended for them.

Much of all of us will stay here, for we loved each other and God,

And we loved living and it’s rewards and we faced it’s trials together at home.