Frankie and Slim

Frankie and Slim
Happy New Year

Friday, December 11, 2009

DO NOT FORGET THE LITTLE ONES

One of our blog friends is dealing with a painful Christmas. Her daughter and son-in-law are considering divorce. Their one child is the light of our blogger's life and she feels the pain she knows that grandchild will endure if the marriage comes to an end.

I wrote the following poem in 1975 when my first marriage ended in divorce. My children were three and four at the time.

VISITATION

They run out the door
suitcases in hand.
Silent, I watch
from where I stand.
How can we pull
our children so?
They cannot decide
which way to go.
Such little children
having to face
a life's remnants
of which no trace
is left except
their existence.
Given no choice,
driven by our insistence.
I am here, he is there,
they are between
A life that won't
again be seen.

©1975


11 comments:

  1. So very true your poem.
    My son and wife are divorced and they take it in turns to have the children on Christmas Day. As my son has to work on Boxing day this year he is having the children on Christmas afternoon.
    Take care.

    Yvonne

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  2. If only more people could see it through this poem...........

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  3. Too true!!! My kids were grown and gone when we divorced but there was a price. Not everyone plays fair.

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  4. My youngest sister who exclaimed loud and clear she was too young to be a grandmother when her stepson's wife became pregnant was also the one who worried so much about her relationship with the little gal when a divorce was pending.

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  5. Divorce is a sad thing and shouldn't be taken lightly.... So many conquences..

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  6. I know full well how devastating a divorce can be. My grandchildren (4 of them) have only seen their father 3 times in the last 5 years (and that is good, in my opinion, since his presence is not good for them.)

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  7. Jessica filed for divorce on Friday morning. Ironically, she and Jason are getting along better now that they've agreed to split than they did when they were still living together.

    I'm doing okay, I guess, but still going through the grieving process and worried for Emmy and Jessica. Life goes on whether or not we like the direction it takes us.

    Your poem holds a lot of wisdom and truth and I can feel your pain, my friend.

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  8. GA, so many opinions on every relationship. And yes the price is paid by the kids.
    on your last post, it was like reading an obit and I was glad to see my name wasn't there as one who had disappeared. It is almost like losing a family member when someone leaves without notice. I feel like calling the Sheriff.

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  9. What a heartfelt, sad poem. You were feeling the torn feelings of your kids. I feel badly for your blogger friend.
    I was blessed to have parents who stayed together, but I had many loved ones go through divorce. I saw the pain and problems in the lives of my cousins and friends.
    Some parents who divorce handle it well and help their kids deal with the situation as best they can. Others end up using the kids as pawns against one another.
    I am sad for everyone involved, the kids especially.

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  10. Annie,

    Your poem speaks volumes about divorce and the sadness it brings to a family.

    It is really a rarity to know a family that does not have a divorce in it; but some people make all sorts of personal sacrifices to see that the children are not hurt.

    I think your poem shows that YOU are one of those special people who made absolutely sure that any differences were between their father and yourself and the children were not involved or
    responsible for any of it.

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  11. Your poem tells it like it is. I'm so thankful for my parents and I just cannot imagine my life if they had ever split up. They had a mild argument every now and then but that was it!! My best friends parents split up when we were kids and I know the effect it had on her. Sad.

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