Archive for the ‘Love and Family’ Category
Sunday, December 18th, 2011
Here is a short holiday poem. We printed this poem on picture matting and we inserted a photograph of our daughters (previously used for a Christmas card) in the center, which is a nice and cheery way to greet holiday guests. Click on the photo to see it in a larger size. Comes in 10″ by 8 “.
A picture poem to greet your holiday guests.
A Christmas Wish for You
May the bells of Christmas ring
a song that never ends.
May the joyous sounds they make
bring peace to all our friends.
May the lights of Christmas bring
an everlasting glow.
May the love that fills our home
bring warmth to all we know.
May love and joy and peace be yours
now and evermore.
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2008-2011. All rights reserved.
Tags: "daniel mark picture poems", "the power of words", Christmas, Christmas poem, Christmas wish, dream, family, friends, gift, gifts, happy, heirlooms, holiday, joy, neighbors, peace, picture poems, words
Posted in Family-Children, Love and Family | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
After too many years, and one year too late, Ron Santo is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He died just over one year ago, and so he did not know during his lifetime that he had finally received major league baseball’s highest honor: to be elected and enshrined in the Hall of Fame. I hope he knows now! But more than baseball, he was an advocate for the children who suffer from the disease that he suffered from most of his life. He had Juvenile Diabetes, and during his career, few knew that he had to test his blood and give himself insulin multiple times a day in order to save his life and health. He committed his life to helping children who suffered from this disease, helping the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to raise over $ 60 million to support research to find a cure for it, and to help the children, all while undergoing two leg amputations and multiple other health issues. I am re-running this poem in honor of his Hall of Fame election. It is called “For Every Kid.” And thank you, Ron Santo, a true Hall of Famer!
For Every Kid
You played the nation’s greatest game
with talent and with fire,
reaching deep within yourself
yet always reaching so much higher.
It is a game learned by boys,
yet also played by men.
You played the game so you’d inspire
everyone to have some fun–
so men would play like boys again.
There was a joy to making catch
that others might not make,
or to drive the runner home
when victory was at stake.
Every game was a test
of stamina and will.
You always gave your very best:
you played with passion;
you played with skill;
stars may dim but never rest.
And when the games were over
and the crowds were getting thin,
you gave yourself to different cause,
more determined now than ever
to fight the fight and to win.
You saw the children suffer
from the burdens that you knew.
You gave your all the only way
that you knew how to do:
have a passion; set a goal;
make a plan; then pursue.
You knew their hurt; you knew their pain;
you knew the fear in each one’s brain.
You showed them courage;
you gave them hope.
You taught them how to live and cope;
you showed them that there was no shame.
You gave yourself; you gave your name:
you kept the kids in the game.
So thank you, Mr. Santo,
for everything you did:
for the game; for the Cubs;
and most of all–above it all–
for the love you showed for every kid.
You fought the fight every day
and still you played the game.
the Biggest Leagues have called you up:
You’re a star in every sense–
you’re in Heaven’s Hall of Fame.
Congratulations to Ron Santo! All good things to his family!
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2009-20012. All Rights Reserved.
Tags: "Hall of Fame", "poems of inspiration", "Ron Santo", "the power of words", baseball, chicago cubs, child, heirlooms, Juvenile Diabetes, love, memorial poetry, passion, picture poems, poetry
Posted in Family-Children, Health, Love and Family, Memorial Picture Poem, Sports | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
So Hope Will Live (Part IV of IV)
Today we conclude So Hope Will Live. This is Part IV.
Boston College has a motto: “Ever to Excel.” It is adopted from Homer’s Iliad.
It is a great motto for a great university and for all of us,
because it encapsulates a pursuit that all of us should undertake.
Steve Jobs pursued excellence and his legacy will long remain so long as others do the same. And he was allowed to continue his pursuit of excellence even after a devastating diagnosis because of the intelligence and talents of medical professionals, and because of the generous gift of life from an organ donor.
As I said earlier, this poem was not written with Steve Jobs in mind, but it might express his sense of gratitude to his donor. We do know that while he was alive, he did thank his donor. This poem is written from the perspective of a recipient to his or her donor and family. Two families are now bonded in a way like no other.
Strangers are indeed now a family.
Donate Life. Your Life Will Go on Living.
So Hope Will Live Part IV of IV
Know that I am grateful
for the life you gave to me.
May my life give you light
wherever you might be.
And may my life bring comfort
from the pain that hurts you so;
we are strangers now a family,
wherever we may go.
And may the life that lives in me
shine a light so all can see
that life goes on, ironically,
when we choose to donate life,
so hope will live, eternally.
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2010-2011. All rights reserved.
P.S. I have not yet read Walter Isaacson’s book entitled, simply, Steve Jobs, but I intend to.
Tags: "a gift of life", "daniel mark picture poems", "donate life", "organ transplant", "poems of inspiration", Donors of life, inspiration, legacies, love, organ donation, picture poems, poetry to honor deceased person, poetry to honor organ donor, So Hope Will Live, Thank you to organ donor and family
Posted in Health, Love and Family, Organ Donation | No Comments »
Friday, October 14th, 2011
The tributes to this remarkable man continue all over the internet. The following poem was not written with Steve Jobs in mind, but it might reflect the gratitude he felt for his donor.
Below you will see Part III of “So Hope Will Live.”
Donate Life! Be an organ donor.
So Hope Will Live (Part III of IV)
Your gift has given life to me –
a gift of love, born of pain –
joined by science, joined by fate -
a bond that bridges life and death –
a bond of love; a bond of pain -
a sad and strange irony –
a gift of life now given me,
and strangers now a family,
burdens borne with different names.
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2010-2011. All Rights Reserved.
Tags: "a gift of life", "daniel mark picture poems", "donate life", "organ transplant", "poems of inspiration", "the power of words", gift, gifts, Health, heirlooms, inspiration, organ donation, picture poems, poems, poetry, poetry to honor deceased person
Posted in Health, Love and Family, Organ Donation | No Comments »
Monday, October 10th, 2011
This is Part II of a poem called “So Hope Will Live,” which was written last year. It was not written with Steve Jobs in mind, but it is a poem written from the perspective of an organ recipient who is alive because of someone else’s gift. Donate Life: Your life will go on living. www.donatelife.org.
Part II of “So Hope Will Live:”
A part of you now lives in me
and we are joined like family –
not in blood and not in name,
different, yes, but yet the same –
joined in cause and common voice –
knowing that there is a choice
to donate life to someone else
so they may live their life again.
May each life be for all
a light ahead in driving rain.
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2010-2011. All rights reserved.
Also, give to JDRF. For the children.
Tags: "a gift of life", "daniel mark picture poems", "donate life", "organ transplant", "poems of inspiration", Commemoration, extraordinary, gift, gifts, Health, heirlooms, legacies, memorial poetry, picture poems, poems, poetry, Steve Jobs
Posted in Health, Love and Family, Organ Donation, Updates | No Comments »
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011
Today is the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk to Cure Diabetes in Chicago. Donate to help a child. Donate to help rid our world of the scourge of this disease. And thank you to Ron Santo for his efforts on behalf of this organization and on behalf of these children. www.jdrf.org (You can see a poem about Ron Santo in our News and Discussions (Blog), entitled “For Every Kid”.)
Tags: "daniel mark picture poems", "Hall of Fame", "Ron Santo", children with juvenile diabetes, JDRF, Juvenile Diabetes, legacies, picture poems
Posted in Family-Children, Health, Love and Family, Updates | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011
Back to School!
Well, it’s back to school time. All over the country, our students are preparing for another school year. It’s an exciting, scary, exhilarating and expensive time. Yet, these young people are the finest and best hope for a nation so in need of hope. We need to be there for them, and our nation needs to be there for them. ‘Nuff said. And thank you to the professors, adminstrators, office and maintenance staffs at all of our colleges and universities for helping to make the educational experiences and campuses the best they can be for these young people. I am re-running a poem that I first put up last fall, dedicated to our students.
For You, Our Child
You are the child of our love
and the vision in our dreams.
You are curious, strong and beautiful,
and filled with such potential.
We long to see you when we are old;
to know the places you have seen;
to know the wisdom you have known;
to see the changes life has made in you,
and the changes you have made
in a world in need
of so much change.
We have no words of wisdom,
for those must come from you.
But have a dream and have a mission,
and speak to yourself, often and calm,
and trust in the words you say to yourself
in quiet reflection, and let them inspire
your passion, your strength,
your wisdom, your fire.
We love you now and always will,
and we pray there are moments,
when you are still,
that we come to you in your mind
and comfort you and slow your hurried ways.
And we wish someday
you will come to us
when we are old
and tell us great things
you have done,
and tell us the memories
you have made
that will comfort you in the quiet moments
of your later days, as we find comfort and pride
in thoughts and memories of you.
(Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2009-2011)
Note: this poem is not presently etched or printed, but we can do so if you’d like to have it as a gift item. Send an email and we can discuss it. Thank You. And study hard and best wishes to our students.
Tags: "daniel mark picture poems", "gifts for child from parents", "poems of inspiration", back to school, change, child, college, college memories, colleges, dream, growing, heirlooms, inspiration, inspirational gifts, learning, legacies, love, mission, passion, picture poems, poem, poems, poetry, professors, reflection, return to school, universities, university, vision, wisdom
Posted in Education and Schools, Family-Children, Love and Family | No Comments »
Thursday, August 11th, 2011
For Every Kid: Ron Santo has helped so many children who suffer from juvenile diabetes. The Chicago Cubs unveiled a beautiful statue of Mr. Santo last night.
Here is part II, and the conclusion, of this poem.
You saw the children suffer
from the burdens that you knew.
You gave your all the only way
that you knew how to do:
have a passion; set a goal;
make a plan; then pursue.
You knew their hurt; you knew their pain;
you knew the fear in each one’s brain.
You showed them courage;
you gave them hope.
You taught them how to live and cope;
you showed them that there was no shame.
You gave yourself; you gave your name:
you kept the kids in the game.
So thank you, Mr. Santo,
for everything you did:
for the game; for the Cubs;
and most of all – above it all –
for the love you showed for every kid.
You fought the fight every day
and still you played the game.
The Biggest Leagues have called you up:
you’re a star in every sense –
You’re in Heaven’s Hall of Fame.
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2010-2011. All rights reserved.
Tags: "daniel mark picture poems", "Hall of Fame", "Ron Santo", "the power of words", baseball, chicago cubs, gift, gifts, heirlooms, inspiration, JDRF, Juvenile Diabetes, legacies, memorial poem for family member, passion, picture poems, poem, poetry, poetry to honor deceased person
Posted in Health, Love and Family, Memorial Picture Poem, Sports | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 9th, 2011
This poem was first printed last winter as a tribute to Ron Santo. Today, Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs will be unveiling a statue of Mr. Santo in Wrigley Field. Whether you agree or disagree that he belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame, he had extraordinary careers as a player and as a broadcaster and as a businessman. And he accomplished all of this while having to check his blood sugar multiple times every day and to take his medications. Ultimately, he lost both of his lower legs to diabetes, had countless surgeries, and yet still made it to the ballpark almost every game to announce the games on WGN radio. Most important, he gave countless hours to help children afflicted with juvenile diabetes, by working the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and especially by direct interaction with the children. He was a Hall of Famer for them! Part II will go up on Thursday.
For Every Kid Part I of II
You played the nation’s greatest game
with talent and with fire,
reaching deep within yourself
yet always reaching so much higher.
It is a game learned by boys
yet also played by men.
You played so hard so you’d inspire
everyone to have some fun –
so men would play like boys again.
There was a joy to making catch
that others might not make,
or to drive the runner home
when victory was at stake.
Every game was a test;
of stamina and will.
You always gave your very best:
you played with passion;
you played with skill;
stars may dim but never rest.
And when the games were over
and the crowds were getting thin,
you gave yourself to different cause,
more determined now than ever
to fight the fight and to win.
Copyright Daniel Mark Extrom 2010-2011. All rights reserved.
Tags: "daniel mark picture poems", "Hall of Fame", "poems of inspiration", "Ron Santo", "the power of words", baseball, baseball player, courage, gift, gifts, heirlooms, inspiration, JDRF, Juvenile Diabetes, legacies, memorial poem for family member, memorial poetry, passion, picture poems, poem, poems, poetry, poetry for wake, poetry to honor deceased person, skill
Posted in Health, Love and Family, Memorial Picture Poem, Sports | No Comments »
Monday, August 8th, 2011
The following is the last stanza of Mourn Me Not For I Live On.
This poem is a happy and inspiring memorial for your loved one, and your friends and family members will be deeply touched by the uplifting message. I just finished another memorial piece and was very happy with the final result. It was etched on black matte with room for a 5″ by 7″ photo in an oval opening, and it will be given this coming weekend to the family of the young man who died far too soon. I can write one just for your loved one. Contact me at info@danielmarkpicturepoems.com.
A Poem to Honor a Special Person
Mourn Me Not For I Live On Part IV of IV
I’m traveling to another place,
with a better view.
Thank you all for loving me
as much as I love you.
You have made my life complete:
A privilege it has been.
I will love you all forever
until we meet again.
Life has changed but is not gone.
Night brings forth another dawn.
Mourn me not for I live on!
Copyright 2009-2011 Daniel Mark Extrom. All rights reserved.
Tags: "daniel mark picture poems", "the power of words", gift, gifts, heirlooms, inspiration, legacies, love, memorial for funeral, memorial poem for family member, picture poems, poetry, poetry for wake, poetry to honor deceased person
Posted in Love and Family, Memorial Picture Poem | No Comments »
