As is the generation of leaves

Apparently quotation collecting is genetic. Ten years ago, which was 18 years after I had already become obsessed with quotes, I learned that my great-grandmother Amy kept a notebook of inspirational quotations. She was born in 1896 and died before I was born. My grandma found the book and that is how it came to me. Based on the dates of the first items, it appears to be about a hundred years old. The first item that is dated is from 1919, and the last entry with a date is from 1969. Click photos to enlarge.

“As is the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity.
The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber
Burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning.
So one generation of men will grow while another dies.”
—Homer

Memorial Christmas

A bit odd to post a Christmas poem in May? Perhaps. My quote of the day on The Quote Garden and Twitter today were both Memorial Day related so thought I could get away with another holiday on my blog.

I was thinking about my grandpa this morning, who served in World War II. He didn't die in the war, lived happily until 57 years later, but I was thinking about him nonetheless, as I do many days. There's a poem he wrote when I was a little girl, and I posted an excerpt from it on my site a few years ago with my grandma's blessings. Those four lines have since been copied all over the internet and even in a few books. Today I am posting the poem in its entirety for everyone to enjoy.


Let Every Day Be Christmas
by Norman Wesley Brooks

Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself.

Peace on Earth, good will to men,
kind thoughts and words of cheer,
are things we should use often
and not just once a year.

Remember too the Christ-child, grew up to be a man;
to hide him in a cradle, is not our dear Lord's plan.
So keep the Christmas spirit, share it with others far and near,
from week to week and month to month, throughout the entire year!

December 17, 1976