“…family…”

Mitchell family and sons-in-law; All with hearts of gold - (photos arranged by Emily Ann)

Family 

Family history, the thread of life,

Roots run deep, near the river, never dry

Love-deeper still in times of strain,

Not dropping a leaf, fruit in every season (1)

Life strength received from ancestors

Passed on from the Greatest generation, “nothing new under the sun” (2)

Few words spoken, impactful lives and smiles

Wounds in battle, war and life

A Purple Heart for all, a badge of merit for all wounds and heartbreak 

Withstanding life’s challenges together, forever 

The way ahead gilded in gold

The breath of influence of each life, each family member, is beyond the grandest dam, widest valley, plain or river

“It's been with us through the ages.”

“One generation comes, another goes;”

“Life is fleeting, like a passing mist.

It is like trying to catch hold of a breath;” (2)

Yet a chance today to hold onto the past good that happened long ago

But look for the good thing that God is doing new today

“Making a way in the wilderness and streams in the dry land." (3)

Each life a long and varied work, campaign 

“You have been stationed in a key post, not some lowly place, and not for a short time but for life.” (4)

Trial and turn, they pass

Seasons change

Love, understanding, and legacies remain.

One thing we have seen bright as the new day -

The promise of the day, seeing your faces, 

Wishing we would have “given more away.

“The way of love…

Grounding, a place to rest amid life and chaos

Pulling us through when no strength remains” (5)

Futures bright with promise, coming alongside, pausing to lift up, devoted

Eyes and hearts wide open to the path ahead

 

Family, Glimpse poetry by Joe Holuta 

About this poem: Family is a poem about our family life and the growth each family experiences in life. Each person, including everything about them, makes the family. Imperfect yet enduring and love in the middle= life.

This poem is dedicated to the Mitchell family and extended family on the birthday of my best friend Mike. Dedicated in remembrance of Alice and John Mitchell, parents, grandparents, and great- grandparents. John M. Mitchell earned a Purple Heart. Alice and John are laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.

-Joe Holuta 

Notes:

(1) Jeremiah 17:7-8 (MSG)

“But blessed is the man

 who trusts me, God,

    the woman who sticks with God.

They’re like trees replanted in Eden,

    putting down roots near the river—Never a worry through the hottest of summers,

    never dropping a leaf,

Serene and calm through droughts,

    bearing fresh fruit every season.”

(2) Ecclesiastes 1: 2,4,9-10 VOICE 

 “Teacher: Life is fleeting, like a passing mist. It is like trying to catch hold of a breath; All vanishes like a vapor; everything is a great vanity.     One generation comes, another goes; but the earth continues to remain.     What has been, that will be; what has been done, that will be done. Nothing is new under the sun; the future only repeats the past.     One person may say of some idea,“Pay attention to this; it’s original!”But that same idea has already been expressed; it’s been with us through the ages.”

(3) Isaiah 43:18-19 GNT

"But the Lord says,

“Do not cling to events of the past

    or dwell on what happened long ago.

Watch for the new thing I am going to do.

    It is happening already—you can see it now!

I will make a road through the wilderness and give you streams of water there."

(4) -EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.24.31-36B

“Don’t you know life is like a military campaign? One must serve on watch, another in reconnaissance, another on the front line….

 So it is for us -each person's life is a kind of battle, and a long and varied one too. You must keep watch like a soldier and as everything commanded.

.... You have been stationed in a key post, not some lowly place, and not for a short time but for life.”

-EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.24.31-36

(5) "The way of love will show us the right thing to do, every single time. It is moral and spiritual grounding-and a place of rest- amid the chaos that is often part of life. It’s how we stay decent in indecent times... And It’s those people that love that pull us through and keep us going when we don’t have the strength.… Human beings – fragile as we are – are the beautiful, heartbreaking conduit, but ultimately not the source.” - Bishop Michael Curry, Love is the Way; Holding onto Hope in Troubled Times.

Note: Purple Heart 💜

A "wound" is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force or agent sustained under one or more of the conditions listed above. A physical lesion is not required; however, the wound for which the award is made must have required treatment by a medical officer and records of medical treatment for wounds or injuries received in action must have been made a matter of official record.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Heart