I stand, arms outstretched to right and left.

My left is the past, I am the present, my right the future.

My paternal grandfather, to the left, was born the year the Civil War started.

I was born eight months after Pearl Harbor.

My youngest grandchild, to the right, was born in the last year of the Twentieth Century.

We are history, we are the future, I am the present, I am the bridge.

I stand, one foot to the right and one to the left.

My maternal grandfather, to the right, was born the year U. S. Grant took office.

My oldest son was born the year John Kennedy took office.

I was born just before Franklin Delano Roosevelt's last term of office began.

My oldest grandchild was born the year Ronald Reagan left office.

We are history, we are the future, I am the present, I am the bridge.

I stand, my brain having a right side and a left.

My younger daughter, bright and pretty, was born the year the Vietnam War officially began.

I was a young wife, but not a soldier's wife.

My only granddaughter, bright and pretty, was born twenty-six years later

We are history, we are the future, I am the present, I am the bridge.

I stand, my heart having a right side and a left side.

My older daughter was born the year John Kennedy was shot.

I quilt, I do theatre, I live on.

My youngest son lies in his grave.

I paint, I write, I live on.

We are history, we are the future, I am the present, I am the bridge.

© Karen Mabry Rice 2007