The Greatest Generation

Before my daughters were born, I worked in nursing homes doing activities.  Those years made a better person out of me.  No - the residents I worked for made a better person out me.  I heard their amazing stories and saw how hard they worked and how much they sacrificed to provide a better future for the next generations.  I kept a journal of some of the conversations and exchanges we had over those years and kept photos so that I would not forget their faces/names.  Some are forever etched into my heart and no photos are even necessary.  Like Russell Miller - who is still one of my best friends (I love you and miss you) and Dillie Dixon (my fiery friend who shared in my thirst for mischief), Charlie Stoneburner (I still have the ornament - always will) and Agnes Schwartz who lived to be 104, but it wasn't long enough for me).  I have the utmost respect for every one of them and they all taught me so much about life, love and even death.  I strive for a fraction of their character and heart.  This poem is a little bit of all of them - it is all true of one or more of them and they were true legends of their time.

Mr. John Doe's Room

It’s just a meager taxi ride

From your home sweet home

Where extraordinary people live

Yet spend their days alone

And if you were to wander in

On some fine afternoon

I’d urge you to come take a look

At Mr. John Doe’s Room

And you will find an old, frail frame

That once stood “ten feet tall”

Whose legs became a wheelchair

Just after that last fall

But look beyond the telling lines

That lead to humbled eyes

And you may see a different man,

A Hero in disguise

Look closely at the pictures

Of his all-adoring kids

Their faces singing praises for

What kind of dad he is

And please don’t miss the stunning quilt

That warms his standard bed

The one his dear wife made with love

Just after they were wed

The quilt alone will tell you

Of her diligence and care

But speak, it won’t, of all the trials

And hurts they’ve had to bear

Like going without food for days

So that their kids could eat

In the days of the Depression

When life was bittersweet

And the time she lost the baby

After two hard days of labor

And nearly lost her own life

Had the Lord not chose to save her

He’s watched those tender, loving hands

Grow weary with disease

And as he once proposed to her

He said “Good-bye” upon his knees

And over in the corner

There’s a shoe-box filled with stars

That he had earned in Normandy

Along with battle scars

And that’s not all – there’s so much more

That you will never see

Unless you look with brand new eyes

At each biography

So let each face that your eyes scan

Be as a precious flower

Whose beauty far exceeds your own

When in its latest hour

And as you leave this “Garden”

Of wisdom in full bloom

You’ll find a living Legend

In every John Doe’s room

A B*TCH Named Shame

Ever since I’ve known you, you’ve been filling up my ears

With insults and convincing lies that bring my soul to tears

You come over uninvited and you sprawl out on my floor

I’m tired of stepping over you to reach my own front door

This house belongs to me and yet I let you drive me out

And stand out in the rain so I don’t have to hear you shout

I’ve looked in from the outside like a vagrant seeking shelter

And watched you vandalizing as my blood began to swelter

And all those raging parties that you threw at my expense

Inviting rapists, liars, thieves and “friends” with ill-intent

They made themselves at home and I, afraid to come inside

Lingered in the yard where all the flowers choked and died

I’ve watched you rearrange each room and I no longer see

The things that made this house a place that felt like home to me

And all these years I’ve stood out on the wrong side of this door

Believing that, without a key, this house is mine no more

But righteous rage came knocking and I saw you load your gun

And I knew then that you were making plans to fight or run

Well sister get your running shoes and put that rifle down

I’m kicking down this door to run this party out of town!

There’ll be no one left standing to protect you from the truth

From there, I’ll drag you up the stairs and throw you from the roof

But not before I mark you so that all will know your name

“Here lies a double-crossing B*TCH, but you can call her SHAME.”

by Karen Davis King

Welcome!

Thanks for visiting Talitha cumi!  I have been doing a lot of writing over the past several months and just feel the need to share it in hopes that some of the things I write may bring hope, comfort, inspiration and encouragement to others.  I have always found art and writing to be healing and empowering and that has never been more true for me than in the past year or so.  Some of what you will see on this blog is a little on the dark side, some posts will be full of hope and others are somewhere in-between.  Whatever you find, I hope something speaks to you. 

To give you an idea of who I am and what you may see me write about, I am a lover & follower of Jesus Christ.  I don't consider myself a democrat or a republican, nor do I believe that God supports one or the other. I love America and our troops and their families (past and currrent) who have sacrificed so much to protect everything it stands for.  I know our nation has many problems, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the world and I consider almost daily what my life would be like had I simply been born on another part of the earth - it's not a pretty thought.  Even still, there is always work to be done and I try not to complain unless I intend to also do whatever I may be capable of to be part of the solution.  One of the most important issues for me at this juncture (and has been for the past 3 1/2 years) is the issue of human trafficking.  I have felt most passionate about dealing with the issue of sex trafficking in the US (and YES, it happens in the US to our daughters and sons, even in Prince William County), but there will be more to come on that because I have much to say.

I am a full-time mom who intensely loves her family and yours and wants to see all families thrive.  I treasure children and teenagers and I feel we (our world) are failing them and that most systems in any country, state or neighborhood (some worse than others) just do not protect them or value them enough to make them a priority.  I volunteer in the local juvenile detention centers and other places where I see struggling youth, abused, addicted, neglected and nowhere safe to go.  We as adults are too quick to judge young children - we see their behavior and mark them as "trouble", "bullies", "promiscuous".  We look at the "WHAT" instead of the "WHY".  I say "we" because I have been guilty of those judgements far too many times.  No I am asking God to let me see others through His eyes.  Most of us don't know the nightmares that some kids are living right under our noses.  It could be your next door neighbor, your straight-A student or the teenager who is always cracking jokes in your church youth group.  AHHHH, see there I go - you can tell what I am most passionate about.  I didn't intend to make this a loooong introduction, so I'll save the rest of my thoughts for another time. 

Again, thanks for visiting and please know that you are important to God.  He has a special place in His heart reserved for only YOU and only YOU can fill that particular space!   

Beauty for Ashes,

Karen