A Tribute To My Mother

"If it had to be done, you can do it."

My mother use to say,

"If you look hard enough and think through it,

I know you'll find a way."

Etta Mary Allen 1930

"If you need a fancy house

For a funny little mouse

Or a costume of a kind,

You can do most anything.

If you want to, and you have to,

You can figure out a way

To fix, or build or sew that thing

In just another day."

If it doesn't work the first time,

It's really not a mystery.

The answer to those problem lie

In the work, you see."

Now mother was magic.

There were things she couldn't do,

But - if it had to be done , she do it,

Work at it till she got through it.

So much my mother taught me.

So many days and nights

We worked at this or that

Till the project turned out right.

Grandma Etta 1965

How grateful I am now

For the time well spent, she gave.

She alone deserves the credit for

The project I have made.

For she's the one who planted

That eager little seed

The confidence I needed

To finish up the deed.

barbara cope

copyright Oct 1978