Flar's Freyja
September 13th, 2002, 09:48 PM
Flar's taking American Literature this semester and is reading some poetry and prose written by Puritans. One of the writers he is studying is Anne Bradstreet. Last night, he showed me several of her poems and prose. Although she was definitely Christian, she lived what she believed and I admire that. One of her poems, "Contemplations," is about the wonders of nature and I found it quite Pagan. I read another one of her works, "To My Dear Children." I could not find a site anywhere on the web that has the verses to post here.......it's a piece that she wrote about herself to her children in hopes that they would understand her and her life when she was gone. I was impressed with the first line, which said something like "it falls on deaf ears until the speaker is gone..." Most of us did not understand our own parents until we were in our thirties.
I've often considered writing something like this for my own kids and even bought a book a while back with some guidelines. I wrote a letter to my oldest son a few years ago with the same intent and it made a huge difference in our relationship, since we really went through some struggles after my divorce and while I was in college and money was very tight. In addition, I was dealing with an undiagnosed and untreated case of major clinical depression. I've also had several long talks with my youngest son, who has chosen to remain at home the longest.
Has anyone started such a project? What did you write about? Will you give it to your kids while you're still here or leave it for them after you cross over?
I've often considered writing something like this for my own kids and even bought a book a while back with some guidelines. I wrote a letter to my oldest son a few years ago with the same intent and it made a huge difference in our relationship, since we really went through some struggles after my divorce and while I was in college and money was very tight. In addition, I was dealing with an undiagnosed and untreated case of major clinical depression. I've also had several long talks with my youngest son, who has chosen to remain at home the longest.
Has anyone started such a project? What did you write about? Will you give it to your kids while you're still here or leave it for them after you cross over?