Miracles News

Ahhhhhh! The gift
of his friendship…
as he walked through our door…
sharing twigs…
that became trees…
and oh, so much more!

His home in the country…
Howard was truly ensconced in…
retired (in his sixties) …
he had never left Wisconsin!

He stuttered… when speaking…
trying to say…what he meant…
But as we listened…
he improved…
with his … im-pe-di-ment.

Working… as Bob’s teacher’s aide…

(helping was his bent)
all the children…spoke Spanish…
so?… Howard’s intent?…
was to learn to speak Spanish!

So he went back to school…
where Bob was the teacher!
(and Howard the jewel…)

His home was the farthest…
on a back country road…
All winter he drove…
from that country abode.

He now stuttered… in Spanish
when speaking in class…
The first student to arrive…
and in leaving, the last…

Then… he thought to travel…
to somewhere that spoke Spanish…
And his stuttering… slowly…
sputtered and vanished!

Traveling by bus… into Mexico…
then on… to Peru…
His treasures, the pictures…
of all he did see and do…

He translated for others…
when asked what words meant…
a translator, with a dictionary…
now battered… and bent.

His church requested…
a group presentation…
with his slides… (and his shyness)
Howard…became a sensation!

A new-born…public speaker…
(who stuck out his neck…)
when his fans began asking…
“Where are you traveling to next?”

So Howard planned tours…
several nations… at a time…
photographing landscapes
and people… of so many kinds…

Then back to his nest…
that he spent decades…nestled in…
and then…out to share!
with his friends in Wisconsin…

So much a giver!…
and giving…his natural goal…
moving us with his…humility…
and generous soul…

His twig, grew into…
this great willow of ours…
it dominates the landscape…
north of the house!

And others now come…
pruning twigs… from this tree…
planting afar to see…
that they too…might grow to be…

I remember the twig…
that became…this tremendous tree…
and am rekindled…again…
with my own… “potentiality”…

Like a brooking hen…our willow…
hovers…over the lawn…
greening…the horizon…
till sunset… and…like a jewel,
“glowing” at dawn…

Such a tiny potential… that I…
once held in my fingers…
such a grand growing gift…
(Oh! how the giver still lingers…)