To Joe

Wish that I could buy for you a nice new lounging chair...
There's got to be a newer, nicer, softer one somewhere !
I really wanted us to take a cruise across the seas,
But that was quashed when thinking of our bad backs and weak knees.

I am sure that you would like another puppy dog,
But we can't handle what we have --- our minds are in a fog.
So, for your birthday, how about a nice big hug or two,
And promises for gifts galore sometime from me to you ?

Here's a fifty-dollar bill to buy your heart's desire...
Just think of all the "stuff" this dough would help you to acquire !
But let's get smarter, now that you are turning eighty-seven:
Let's DOWN-SIZE....you know, we can't take it to Heaven.

The Brick

To a young man who graduated from college in 1976. We gave him an old, used brick (with a nice check), and this "inspirational" poem:


The "Key to the City", given to men, shows they're admired and respected,
And indicates they might unlock some doors, which otherwise would be rejected.

But how do they get from one door to the next? With no path, that might be some trick!
So here, for the first step to that winding road, we give you the city's "first brick".

So straight and so narrow? So heavy and hard? But it's yours, to build on and grow.
Every man makes his own way in this life, one brick at a time, row by row.

So let this old brick be a symbol to you of the start of a long winding road.
It's worn and it's chipped, but has many more miles, and the strength to help carry your load.