The stick-together families are happier by far
than the brothers and the sisters who
take separate highways are.
The gladdest people living are
the wholesome folks who make
a circle at the fireside that
no power but death can break.
And the finest of conventions ever held
beneath the sun
are the little family gatherings when
the busy day is done.
There are rich folk,
there are poor folk, who
imagine they are wise,
and they are very quick to shatter
all the little family ties.
Each goes searching after pleasure
in his own selected way,
each with strangers likes to wander,
and with strangers likes to play.
But it's bitterness they harvest,
and it's empty joy they find,
For the children that are wisest
are the stick-together kind.
............................................. How to Be Cheerful / Edgar Guest
How to be cheerful, do you say,
when the wind is cold and
the skies are gray?
How to be cheerful?
Just one way:
Forget yourself for awhile today.
Never mind self and your irksome cares.
Somebody else greater burden bears.
Stretch out a helping hand and play
the friend to all who
may chance your way.
You'll never be cheerful sitting there
sorrowing over the hurts you bear,
for never a joyous hour is known
by the man who
thinks of himself alone.
How to be cheerful?
Scatter cheer;
share your life with your neighbors here;
encourage the weary and
confort the sad
and you'll find more joy
than you've ever had.
the snowstorm and the record snowfall we are having in Midwest.
These two poems are good reminders for us, and it is important for us to remind
my adult children to be good to their siblings and their families.
So I sent them these poems to them today and wanted to share with others.