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Words and images about family and friends.
overwhelmed and speechless
I stand silent
but not for long …..
RIP Ronald Fischman
your words
spoken to me
and to others
will be cherished
and remembered
within the annuls
of eternity
peace out
Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
Read Ron’s comment on my video Beyond 2012: gonna be more proactive
I have an online flip-book of poetry in the process of being finished called The Woman ~ as perceived by The Man (soon to be in print). The book contains art from four women who are world class artists, Denise Denomy, Regina A. Walker, Azzi Kalili-Williams and Era Tak.
The poem that follows to my two daughters is from the book. The poem embodies the loving spirit of my mother which the love my mother gave me, I in turn tried to give to my daughters when they were growing up. These days my 2nd daughter is a mother herself and I see the spirit of my mother’s love in her towards her children.
Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom and my daughter …. I am truly grateful for all The Women in my life.
The Women
oh my two
sweet ~ little
adorably precious
and beautiful girls
your daddy
will love you
~ forever
as you become
the women
I’m hoping
yes ~ praying
you both want
and shall be
oh ~ how
they did love
to sit upon my lap
snuggly dressed
for bed
wearing those
cute footy pajamas
~ acting enthused
and showing
that nightly anticipation
all from being used to
having this father
with daughters
~ bonding ritual
of which now
many years later
is held tightly in
this ageing
man’s memory
~ me being
appointed the honor
by them ~
as if I was
some master storyteller
to exuberantly
read aloud
~ while they’d
melodiously joined in ~
singing the words
written within
a children’s book
that began with its title
“I’ll love you forever,”
~ and
after which
as we’d finish
they’d both giggle
then hug me dearly
~ boy oh boy
I gotta tell you
during such
cherished moments
with my daughters ~
I’d reflect back
to my boyhood
where I’d fondly recall
the love of my mother
who to me ~
embodied
the character
of the woman
lovingly portrayed
within the pages
of this book
wherefore and within
such love
I was given
I’d hope and pray
with all my might
both my girls
shall be
as the woman
my mother was
and still is ~
by experiencing from me
how I was loved
and cared
for
by her as a son
~ and in like manner
I’d promise
to do the same
for both of them
as my daughters
saying ~
again and again
to myself ~
oh my two
sweet ~ little
adorably precious
and beautiful girls
your daddy
will love you
~ forever
as you become
the women
I’m hoping
yes ~ praying
you both want
and shall be
Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
In loving memory of Merton E. Pingel (Mert or better known as Pingel)
October 4, 1927 – January 23, 2014
you loved your family
without question ~
as well as those
who count their
lucky stars
to have been called
your friend
all who experienced
your enchantment
loved you in return
Mert Pingel
‘cause you let us
into your life
as actual participants
in the game…..
……we weren’t allowed
to be mere spectators
way ~ way beyond
entertaining us
like Johnny Carson
and Tim Conway
with your animated stories… being
this great teaser ~ giving us
your confident opinion
and wise counsel
~ you curiously engaged us
were sincerely interested
in what we had to say
our personal point-of-view
and because of all that
Mert ~
more than just loving you
we truly appreciate you
for who you are
and will always be
in our eternal memories
Words by ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
A FHS Class of 1975 Tribute
In loving memory of our life long friend Pamela Ann Neuwirth
May 1, 1957 to December 18, 2013 (Obituary)
(Many of the photos are as how Pam labeled them when she sent them to me in 2010.)
you were this gift
from heaven
a precious gem
like no other
you will never
be duplicated again
the memory of ~
your broad smile
jubilant laugh
vivacious sprit
unquestionable
and infallible love
as a mother
grandmother
wife
daughter
sister
our classmate
and dearest friend
will glow warmly
and brightly
within our hearts
forevermore……
You are loved and cherished by us all Pamela Ann Neuwirth.
RIP Sweetheart!
~Keith Alan Hamilton~
In loving memory of my father James Russell Hamilton. March 27, 1933 ~ August 21, 2012
August 21, 2013 is the one year anniversary of my father’s passing away from cancer. Two months prior to my father’s passing, my beloved mother-in-law passed away from cancer. About two months ago, my lifelong friend, who I’ve known since childhood passed away from cancer. So the last year has been a very hard one for me and the topic of cancer is one I try to avoid. My tribulations with cancer have inhibited me from talking much about my father until now.
My relationship with my father was strained for many years. When I think about it, the dynamics between my father and me wasn’t much different from many father /son relationships. As I look back now, I am happy I wised up in my forties and decided to work out my issues with my dad. Before my father’s passing, I had a lot of years where my dad and I were actually friends.
It wasn’t easy being my father’s son while growing to adulthood. He was as handsome as Alan Ladd, had the persona of James Dean and possessed the Scottish temperament of John Wayne. Besides all of that, as the actor Walter Brennan once said in a scene from the TV series The Guns of Will Sonnett, “no brag, just fact,” my father was a genius. Especially when it came to mechanical things created in any shape or form. By age 16 he had put a V8 engine in a Model T Ford. After he went into the Navy during the Korean War, every time my mom would go out shopping in my father’s white, Ford convertible the police would follow her around thinking it was my father looking for someone to race. My father once told me that he was more a concrete thinker and my capacity to think abstractly was far superior to his. I responded, dad I believe that ability comes from you teaching me how to conceptualize, identify the certainties, imagine the possibilities and then systemically map out the path to be taken along the road to problem solving a situation. Dad just looked at me and laughed. My father religiously read books about science and loved reading books by Carl Sagan. His knowledge of science inspired many interesting philosophical conversations when friends and relatives visited that lasted for hours. You know the discussions that start out with the question “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
My father was the first one in his family to graduate from high school, his father only had an eighth grade education. After graduation, dad went to work in the family trade, ironwork. The Hamilton family has over the years worked on most of the structures built in Michigan. My cousins and their families continue this rich tradition to this day. However, after 10 years in ironwork my father broke the mold and quit to start his own business in the trade of water well drilling. This business endeavor started my father down the path of entrepreneurship which would be the defining mark of who and what my dad was as a person for the rest of his life. This business venture as I now realize in my mid-fifties, provided me with the skills that have made me successful in my own endeavors. Later in his life my father expanded his business empire when he bought a hardware store from his cousin. Dad was well respected in the community for his business acumen, ethics and industriousness. I was reminded of this when one of my dearest friends mentioned after my father had cleaned the family water well, when he was told they didn’t have the money to pay, he said pay me when you can. To a well driller, their well logs are like the bible. After dad passed I was paging through his logs when I came upon an entry from 1963. Included was an invoice which at the top was handwritten Hamilton & Sons Well Drilling. At that time I would have been six years old.
Dad was no doubt as they say, “a man’s man.” I once heard him say, “No man stands in my face.” One time in a barroom brawl he took on five men and put one of them in the hospital. The police held him at the hospital until the man pulled through. At an early age I was no longer allowed to hug and kiss him, I had to shake his hand like a man. The ironic thing, my children, his grandchildren when they visited him, they would jump in his lap, hug and kiss him and he would then smile as big as the moon. My father did some things in life I consider unforgivable. Although, after raising three children of my own, I’ve come to realize my father did the best he humanly could when raising me. I cherish every moment he spent with me.
A few months before my father passed away, I rounded up my three adult children and took them to visit my dad. While there dad showed me a flatbed trailer he had just built to haul away his junk (dad amazingly worked in his business up to a few weeks before he died). I had rented a brand new Chrysler 300 at the airport to drive up to see him. Dad took one look at it and became instantly giddy like a child. He then proceeds to tell me a story I never heard before. “One time a Chrysler like this came along side my Ford and wanted to race. I floored my car and when my pedal was to the floor with nothing left, the car blew right buy me.” Dad paused for a moment and then said, “I think I’m gonna buy one of these.”
Enjoy your father’s company every chance while you can.
~Keith Alan Hamilton~
Dad, mom and me…
This will be in honor of my life long friend James Lee Hargreaves who recently passed away from cancer at the young age of 55. I have known Jimmy since kindergarten. What follows is something a few weeks ago I posted on Facebook about Jim.
“Yesterday at Jimmy’s funeral the pastor said that Jim was one of the kindest and caring people he ever knew. How true that statement is I know and had the honor of experiencing Jim’s loving spirit firsthand.
See, in my book, James Lee Hargreaves was a great man and a marvelous human being. Sure I have known him my whole life and that biases my opinion. Sure he was a part of the 1975 FHS baseball team I call A Band of Brothers and a Sister which each and everyone of them I care so much about! Here is why I think Jim is a world class human being.
After Jim and I graduated by 1978 we both had started working at Ford Motor company in Dearborn, MI (River Rouge Plant). Earlier in 1977 I had gotten married and my son was born with major health problems. Keep in mind that Jim and I were just barely in our twenties at the time. I was newly married, my son was in and out of the hospital on a monthly basis and working at an auto plant was a whole new experience for Jim and I. I am a very mentally and physically strong person. However, at such a young age, what was going on was sometimes hard for me to handle emotionally. If it wasn’t for Jim being there for me everyday at work for five years, listening to what I said and felt without judgment, I would have faltered. At such a young age, with problems of his own, he was always kind and caring to me.
Then in the last year of his life, Jim honored me in return by receiving my loving kindest towards him. Early this year when Jim had to stop chemo treatment because it was causing him to have mild strokes, by text he sent me a picture. In the photo he was sitting in a chair at the hospital with a patch over one eye (blurred vision from a stroke) with a huge smile on his face. This was iconic Jimmy and his attitude towards life.
A few weeks ago before his recent passing, I spent two days with Jim. He was weak and sick most of the time. We talked and laughed and cried together. When I left, I told Jim not to try to get up. I reached around the head of this great human being, hugged and kissed his head. I whispered I love you and he said he loved me. I said I’ll call you.
I thank God each day I live for blessing me with a friend and brother like Jim.
My brother, my friend
your smile, your kindness
your courage, your love
the nobility of you
is forever kept
in the memory
of my heart
I will never forget you Jimmy
~Keith Alan Hamilton~ (~KAH~)
Jim in high school.
Below the link to a tribute video having many wonderful pictures of Jimmy. I donated enough funds so it will stay up indefinitely.
http://thetributecenter.com/
Also visit Photos for Healing where I posted many great pictures of Jim. https://www.keithalanhamilton.com/?p=135
Poems for Healing is a collection of poems with images I’ve wrote and taken since Jim passed away. https://www.keithalanhamilton.com/?cat=11
More posts to come at this blog……
