poems of old

My father died when I was five years old, and it hasn't really been until the last couple of years that I have really started to learn about him other than little snippets from my mother and grandparents growing up.  Most of my new information has come from boxes of papers, pictures, and mementos recently brought out of basements and garages at my mother's and grandparent's houses.

In my last round of cleaning and organizing, I found the box of keepsakes from when my parents were dating and first married.  This is how I discovered that my father liked to write poetry.  On the basis of what I've found, he wrote poems to my mom quite often.  It's not particularly wonderful poetry, but it's heartfelt, and reading it gives me a small window into my father's life as a young man.

With my mother's permission, I am going to post a few of his poems here leading up to Valentine's Day.  I hope you can appreciate the sentiments of my young father as he showed his affection for my mother back in the day.