This is a poem that Ruth wrote to thank all at her 80th Birthday party:
When her mother passed away, our darling Berta said,
Some of us are alive and some of us are dead
So, I come to celebrate my 80th birthday with you, my "us"
Because us" is where it's at!
"Deep roots and far reach" from Esther Maccmenken
Ruth Hart's open hand and heart
Our children who entrusted me with their babyhood,
and theirs who give me continuous wonder:
Fernando, Samuel, Joel, Julian and Sebastian
My Oma whose absolute kindness and constant blessing
last my whole life and beyond
My Opa murdered in ways not to fathom
Stands erect and proud and clear
Their children: my mother and father
Lived their lives without shirking, always sharing
My Onkel Franz and Tante Irma whose generous interest
Flowered my youth and young adult years
My cousin Bernie whom I followed like an adoring puppy
Kicked around by history in young years
Created with his Marianne a great family
The little brother Bob who became the brother I never had
And with Virginaia brough a new family into my life
rince, Princie, Gulliver, Rapearl, Pixie, Fred, Wesleigh and Columbus
and all the wild which grace our garden daily
Every tree, shrub and flower with Allison
Who, in my place, tends with care and delight
Margaret, my brilliant and funn friend forever
Emily alwas there with her young voice and clear head
And Gen, gone too, whose generous, bright spirit lives on
Hello, to Charles, our friend by way of young Mark and Kim
In 1945 I tutored Sanford's beloved young cousin Phyllis the math I loved and she hated
And now with her Hershey she can count all these wonderful grandchildren!
Our daughter-in-love as Sanford named her: Maureen
What fortune b way of Kim brought you into my life?
Beyond our surgeries, accidents and falls:
Peggy heals and teaches us gift wrapped in great politics for our joy
Their hose was there when we built ours: Beverly and Alan
And so we shared our lives for more than forty years
Becky, you came to work and help
When you broke a cup and your employers down in Mississippi did not pay,
Your mother "came and carried me home" - That is Freedom!
When she was six, she said "I need you"
So I became Roxie's godmother for good and forever
Toni fashioned beauty everywhere into my life
Ruth and Murray came West to join the Berkeley California styloe
and brought sense of family and the familiar to us
Ed and Claire and theirs with us for almost all our married life
All those beginnings and continuings experienced and enjoyed together
Scrubbing floors and now securing them against earthquakes
In five languages Wendy remains that wonderful total woman
Irma and I laughed through all that Cowell upheaval
and her long lingering sickness
Through social work and Jazz and watching tennis and poker in Glen Ellen
Sally's and my friendship grew until the last moment
mary and Bob, our dear friends
and their six children are the great Alameda remnant
Now in Durango with her new family, dear Betsy
traveled the world over in her mind and on her bike
Dr. Jeanette Payne, the woman with the wrong name
Held my hand as our children grew
Kathleen - such a good name to go with Stewart and Moore
So different, yet steadfast evermore
Grace White who graced my learning social work
by helping me form discipline for my sensitivity
as a continuation of his father Max, teenager Maxie came
And visited as a friend year after year and taught me the use of the computer
I dreamed with Bob every trip and adventure
He guided us in some of the best moments of our life.
Und meine libe Katharina:
So weit und immer nah
Da vom Anfang und noch heute!
(and my dear Katharina:
so far and always near
there from the beginning
and still today!)
Ulla, and now her Phil, so much fun
and talk and thought and being together
A truly noble young man, Scott, worked in the garden with me
until he went to DC, and Guatemala, Belize and Mexico
to prevent the spread of HIV
Dear Dieter, my young friend, sharing years
of letter writing across the Atlantic
about so much held in common
Norman and Lorna, with you we shared all our important beginnings
"He drew a circle that shut me out -
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that drew him in." (Edwin Markham 1915)
Sanford's 'little' cousin Joan and Laurence are supreme practitioners of the above!
Noel after years finally brought Mary to my dawn Gulliver walks
And she stayed delightfully in our hearts.
And so dearest Sanford, my life's sponsor,
Than you once again, for sponsoring yet another birthday party for me!
And to all of you:
thank you more than I can say
for being my "US" and for being here today!
Ruth
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