by Cheryl, Gulf Coast Poet

Visits Then and Now & A Tribute to My Daughters

Katey and Ellen visit their brother, Joe, and his dog, BABY, on their way home from my house.

Visits Then and Now

A couple of years ago,

when my daughters visited me,

we were on our way to swim with manatees…

All tours were cancelled!

On the road, we found

restaurants serving only carry-out.

Two hours before we arrived at our hotel,

the dining room closed…

The museum we had planned to visit

had closed the day before.

We walked around the city

for two days, eating carry-out.

Beaches had closed near my house.

My daughters caught

one of the last flights home to Texas…

Covid had arrived!

This year my daughters visited…

vaccinated, masks ready, restaurants serving,

beaches open, manatees waiting…

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Thanksgiving sunset at Blind Pass Beach. Photo by Ellen.
From my beach chair, I watched Katey build this sand castle with a moat connected to the Gulf of Mexico. Ellen, meanwhile, was swimming enthusiastically in the cool water. She came out just in time to photograph the sunset and Katey’s sand castle.

A Tribute to My Daughters

My daughters, Ellen and Katey, visited a very elaborate Pumpkin Patch near their home in Texas.

A Tribute to My Daughters

Ellen and Katey volunteered at their church to help with Vacation Bible School, online this year because of Covid 19. They are standing in front of one of the sets they helped to build. Ellen was also involved in writing and other aspects of the project. Church members wrote the script, composed and performed original music, and videotaped the episodes with great skill! It’s a big church with a lot of talented volunteers.

Eve Ellen

makes her mother proud…

ambitious,

creative,

dedicated. Her life is

a labor of love.

Katey and Ellen frequently help out at a friend’s horse barn and enjoy riding the horses. All types of animals gravitate toward both of my daughters.

Katey Marie

makes her mother proud.

Her joy is

contagious!

Horses, dogs, friends, family…

life shared in photos.

Ellen and Katey enjoyed the sights and the rides at the fair.

Emails, calls…

My daughters have their

far-away

lives to live.

Times spent together, precious…

cherished memories!

Rez and Vibe love to cuddle. Vibe, in the foreground, is on his way to becoming a huge dog!
Vibe and Ellen. Vibe loves the pool…Rez, not so much! Vibe also enjoys kayak rides, but I am afraid he may already be too big for that.
Katey, Cheryl, & Ellen in front of “The Greatest Show on Earth,” a mural at the Ringling Circus Museum. The museum visit is one of the wonderful memories of our trip.

Copyright© 2021 by Cheryl Batavia

This is the final post about my daughters’ visit during Thanksgiving week!

The second poem is my attempt at writing sharadomas, a form of poetry featured on David’s blog, “The skeptic’s kaddish of a son.” The poem, “Warm love or: Glowing memories” was posted on December 7, 2021. Sharadoma stanzas have a syllable count of 3/5/3/3/7/5. I didn’t attempt a cleave poem, although David’s was lovely!

59 Comments

    1. Hi, Angela! Yes, I would love to have a dog or a cat again. Darn allergies! Maybe I will get to meet my daughter’s dogs one day and see my son and his dog again. Robert loves cats, and frequently watches cat videos on YouTube. 🙂 Hope you are doing well and enjoying school. ❤

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    1. Thank you, Punam, for the encouraging words from one mother to another. ❤ It makes me happy that you like the shadorma. David is an amazing writer! I am not always eager to try so many new forms, but David has persuaded me to experiment more than once. 🙂 Best wishes to you and your family.

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  7. a really heartwarming post, a loving tribute to your 3 fine children … who are channelling their creativity and interests in very worthy ways!

    So glad you caught up and did all those things covid postponed 🙂

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    1. Haha, Kate! I know this was supposed to be about my daughters’ visit, but I couldn’t resist slipping my son in there too. I think he may be moving in the next few months to a nearby community where I may be able to see him more often. Neither Robert nor I have any family here.

      Thank you for your kind words. It means a lot to me. ❤

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  8. Times spent together, precious…

    cherished memories!
    So true, these are precious, cherished and treasured memories. Your photographs are lovely beautiful. And what a difference 2 years ago was, how it has now come back to a new normal, what deep joy and happiness these experiences bring in – a true celebration of life ❣️

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  11. What a beautiful share of memories, poetry, pictures and mostly love and pride of you children Cheyrl which is the most important gift of all. So beautiful and Ellen is a great photography. A mothers love is so unconditional no matter what age! 💖💖💖👏👏👏🌷❤️

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  13. Such fun and such glowing faces all around! There’s nothing like sharing life hands-on with Family. The contrast between your daughters’ two visits is striking…unfortunately the former experiences of ‘life interrupted’ we can all relate to in some form or another. The latter? Making up for lost time!!!
    🙂

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    1. You are so right! There have been plenty of challenges to go around. I hope we will all be fully back to normal soon, and will all get a chance to “make up for lost time.” I am happy that you enjoyed the post. Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments, Laura! ❤ Take care!

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    1. Thank you, Nawaz, for your kind comment. ❤ Glad you enjoyed the post. Both of my daughters take great photos with their cell phones. I am not sure who took some of the photos on this post, but the photos are from their cell phones. Katey calls and sends me photos a couple of time a week, which I truly appreciate! 🙂

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  20. A beautiful tribute so full of love! I seem to be able to appreciate my children more as they age. It’s nice to see other people who know dogs are family. The gulf sunset is stunning. The water seems so peaceful compared to the Atlantic Ocean.

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    1. Thank you, JoAnna for sharing your beautiful thoughts. ❤ It is nice to get to know your children as adults without being responsible for them. I have been fortunate to have wonderful pets during my lifetime, and I miss having them now due to allergies. I hope to visit my daughters in Texas someday and get to know their wonderful cat and dogs. You are right about the Gulf. The water here tends to be much flatter than the Atlantic Ocean. 🙂 Have a wonderful day!

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    1. Thank you, Lawrence. I look forward to meeting the dogs someday. Vibe is just a puppy and is projected to be huge! Do you have a dog? We can’t have pets anymore due to having developed allergies. Robert is allergic to dogs, and both of us are allergic to cats. Robert loves cats and often watches cat videos. 🙂

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      1. Thanks. I don’t have a dog now, but I grew up with them. I’ve walked and looked after a dog for six years, helped out with puppies, and love seeing and playing with an amazing German Shepherd locally.

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