Thursday, November 18, 2010

Treasure Chest Thursday Poem about my Dad


Edith & George

OK this might be a stretch but I don't think so.  Many of our treasures are in our minds and hearts.  So how do we move them from our special places to share them with others.  How will my kids know about my father when he was gone before they were in my life.  One way is stories.  I am not much of a story teller.  I don't have that kind of flare to make stories sound interesting.  For some reason I am very comfortable with poetry.  Wednesday evening at the local genealogy meeting our guest speaker spoke on ways to share family history.  One of his suggestions was to use an Acrostic poem format, each line begins with a letter from the person's name.  So here is mine about my Dad.  I actually wrote this during the meeting and shared it with the group. 

George J. Hartmann
George J. Hartmann was my Dad and he was an interesting man.
Early in life he learned how to work hard.
Originally he went to college to be a teacher, the first person in his family to have a college education.   But he didn't like teaching.
Retired instead as a fireman, first from NYC and than Miami Florida.
George's first son was also a George but not a junior.
Edith was his first love who he always loved.

Joseph was his grandfather who came from Germany.

Hard worker, stubborn and worrier would describe him.
Annette was his second love who he always loved.  He was a lucky man to have two good wives.
Really believed in work and always doing a good job and that there was no such thing as a free lunch.
Three sons he had with Annette, George, Donald & Edward.
Mary was his only daughter with Edith.
Ancestors came from Germany and Bohemia

Annette & George

Never did he forgot the pain of burying two wives before their time.
Never did he stop loving his wives or his children.


I will never forget my Dad and the lessons he taught. 


4 comments:

  1. Mary, I share the same fear that you do about my children not knowing who I really was or who my family was. Even though I work hard at trying to pass on the memories, my fear is that the memory-keeping will stop with me.

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  2. Lovely poem and beautiful pictures, Mary Elizabeth. We can do our best to create a legacy for our children and grandchildren and hope that they will pass it on to their descendants as well!

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  3. This is from my Friend Jane a faithful follower.
    Wonderful!! You did a great job and it made a really good story. You are getting so many helpful tips. I love hearing all about them and getting to know your family. Some day I will use them and work on my own. Keep learning for me! Jane

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