COMIC HOUSE
No more work, at the Hamilton Steel Company!
Dad went to Nova Scotia...so my mother and me,
Moved in with her brother, who had an old shack,
Right near the dump and the noisy, streetcar track!
No word from Dad....D I S A P P E A R E D....GONE!
Uncle arrested for theft....one more sad, family song!
Late in the Autumn..... with Winter on the way!
Getting colder and colder, every single day!
On walls, we nailed cardboard boxes, from the dump yard,
Got our food there, too....that the restaurants discard!
Empty jam cans, with water added, made a sweet juice,
Wanting sugar or syrup? There just was no use!
What a fortunate day, when I found that bundle...it's true!
COMICS!!! to read and make good insulation, too!
Flour and water, for making glue, would be great!
Did it immediately...no time to wait!!
Papered walls....Katzenjammer Kids and Tarzan!
The Apes and Buck Rogers.....such a neat plan!!
Word travelled fast, that we had a "Comic House" so....
All the kids came over....even some we didn't know!
They'd walk around on our cots, or kneel on the table,
Sam, Don, Jack and Jane....Elizabeth and Mabel!
Our shack was a Social Club, when adults came at night,
To discuss Politics, Mussolini, Depression...what a sight!
Men brought wood, for our old stove....and cookies, too!
An eighty year old came often, needing help from you,
For he loved comics, but he could not read,
So, all of us kids, would satisfy his need!
He'd look...listen....laugh and then,
Go away happy....but, soon came back again!
At least fifty times, he heard the very same thing,
>From early November, until the following Spring!
Yes, he LOVED the Comics...but, he LOVED us, too!
Just a lonely, old man, with nothing else to do!
Never spoke a word....and then one day he did demand,
Mom to take two, greasy, crumbled dollars,
That he put in her rough, red hand!
His sacrificial "Thanks", for all that we had done,
Making a tough, Canadian winter bearable,
For him....................and.....................everyone!!

Pauline Banning  W3-924-97-D7
It is amazing how humans have the ability and stamina, to take the
impossible and disgusting.....and turn it into something delightful. It
takes a lot of courage to do this. The tough times separate the "wimps" and
the "winners".....the weak and the strong....the "do nots" and the
"doers"....and when times improve, often due to their perseverance, they
take what they have learned and go on to make improvements for all.

I consider trials to be "Lessons in Life"........necessary to teach new
skills and help us to grow......so that we can become more understanding,
of other people's problems. Many do not seem to need these lessons, for
they are already aware of the need for empathy, where it is truly deserved.
It is interesting to note, that the old man in this story was so eager to
give what little he had, to this family....to repay them for the happiness
they shared with him, over the long, cruel winter. It seems difficult for
the rich to show generosity sometimes.....and the more they get, the more
they cling to their assets....without realizing, that there are no pockets
in coffins. The poor are often generous to a fault....willing to give all
they have....and so helpful to neighbours in distress. I have not quite
figured out WHY?

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