Memory Monday: Smiles

Mamaw

SMILES

Years ago when I was just a child, we would visit my grandparents in Abilene, Texas.  Now you have to understand that there were five children in my family, plus my parents. I never could understand that when we ate together at their house, we never, ever, used the large table in the dining room. Nope, we would all cram together in the small kitchen with a small table. The adults sat at the table, with Mother holding the next to the youngest sister, while the baby slept in one of the bedrooms. My older sister and brother ate at the pull-out pastry board. I got the step-stool at the end of the counter by the sink.

All that was said to tell about the poem Mamaw had pinned above the counter where I sat. I read it each time I climbed up on the step-stool. When I was older I wrote it down. The other day while I was cleaning my library, I came across that poem. Getting ready to write about this, I found out there was more to the poem than Mamaw had above her counter, but I would like to share the part she had with you.

It is easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows by like a song,
But the man worthwhile is one who will smile,
When everything goes dead wrong. 

For the test of the heart is trouble,
And it always comes with the years,
And the smile that is worth the praises of earth
Is the smile that shines through tears.

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox  (1850 –1919)

This is a poem that has lived in my heart for many, many years. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.