Ghost Letter

Going through the contents of an old dresser today I came across something I didn't know I even had. A letter from my mom.
Written in 1988 2 years before she was to pass away from cancer.
This is one of those happenstances that can cause a person to pause, take stock, and look for the little signs that tell you this was a special coincidence. Maybe it was mom's way of reaching out to me when I needed it most and reminding me of something about myself that I had forgotten.

My mother was a dynamic and brilliant woman. Born in 1936 in Lenoir City Tennessee.
Red haired and outgoing, with a talent for music and a mind that, had she been born today in less restrictive times for women, might have grown to it's full potential.
She was an extremely talented and well read woman and had often dreamed of being a writer but, times being what they were and trying to raise 6 children in difficult circumstances, that never happened for her.

The letter, written all these years ago, was a thank you for visiting at Christmas that year and letting my daughters stay with them for their vacation. By all accounts, it was a great visit and my daughters talk about it to this day and tell about all the mischief and trouble they got in with their aunts and uncle. I'm so glad I let them have that opportunity to have a special and formative experience.
I had before then, sent a little poem to my sister Amy that she loved and so also in the letter from my mom, was a poem to me.

A bit of back story.
When I was young, I believed I was a Martian. I have never understood why I came to believe that, but, I remember clearly waking up one morning and the thought was in my waking mind as clear as a bell. LOL
I went on to drive my poor family crazy for several years with my ideas on space, and space travel, and my hardcore belief that I had somehow come to earth from Mars.
I tell you this as a way of explaining my mom's poem.

Below, is the poem, I'm thinking that now, with the internet and all this self publishing going on, it is a way for my mom to finally be published, albeit in this modest way, I do it to honor her and remember her and thank her.
I love you mom. :D

signed,
Pam the Martian


Pam
by Nadine Turner 1936-1991

The planet Mars remained a gleam
in the eyes of this young girl.
So to fill that time that was in between
she gave other things a whirl.

Chickens, turkeys, guineas and cows
and long rows of corn she plows
are only things to mark the time
Until her spaceship starts its climb.

The minutes we counted as the rocket she mounted
with neither fear nor dread
the only thought that was in her head
was her beloved planet red.

The engines fired - the rocket shuddered
and into the sky she flew
she clenched her fists and quietly muttered-
I go home to where I grew.

As the landing neared, only one thing she feared
was would her family remember?
The tiny tot, so full of mirth
who was sent to the planet Earth.

As her feet touched down on the alien ground
she heard a familiar sound,
she stopped a moment and turned around -
the sight it did astound!

There they stood - old Mom and Dad -
Neither of them good nor bad.
Then her face began to smile,
twas the same old folks she'd had awhile.

Ol' Mama
12/28/88