A Son Discovers His Deceased Mother's Hidden Talent

On this episode of Our American Stories, Texas boys don’t write poetry, and certainly don’t cry. Roger Latham did, though, after discovering a poem written by his deceased mother.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habibe and this is our American Stories,
and all show long, we're celebrating Mother's Day. Some stories
from the past, some stories from listeners and everything in between.
And by the way, we want to hear from you
your mother's stories. Send them to our American Stories dot com.
That's our American Stories dot com. Our next storyteller is

(00:32):
from Fort Worth, Texas. He moved us with his story.
The Real Santa Roger Latham is back along with his
daughter Candy, to honor his mother and celebrate Mother's Day.
Let's take a listen.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
A number of years ago, as I set in my office,
my father entered and me six small notepad sized pages.
Thought you might like to read these, he said, Although
I did not know at the time, it might have
been a good thing. If he had provided a handful
of tissues, I'd need them. The words on the page

(01:19):
were written in pencil. I recognized that once my mother's
distinctive flowing cursive. I knew it well because she had
faithfully written to me for all of my three years
defending America from raging Germans. It was nineteen sixty seven,
so it could easily have been Vietnam. These pages held

(01:43):
a blank verse poem. I began to read. It was
easy to realize it as the musings of a middle
aged woman with a soul deeper than the deepest sea.
When I finished, my cheeks were streaked with saline. I'd
never known my mother to have such depth. Then it

(02:07):
hit me, I too write words in rhyme, retrieved from
the deep place, fathom below the surface of self. I
smiled to think of the unexpected genetic gift my mother
had provided. Too often I'd pushed such thoughts aside. Texis

(02:30):
boys don't write poetry, and certainly don't cry. The piece
was never meant to be published, I imagined my mother wrote
it on some sunny spring day, with the windows allowing
sweet smell of honeysuckle to kiss her soul. It was
never presented to a larger audience until her memorial service

(02:56):
in the year two thousand. Did eulogy no problem, But
if I attempted to read the poem, it was an
indisputable fact I'd seem a blubbering fool. So my son
stepped in and read hands. As his presentation ended, I

(03:18):
noticed midst the assembled other folks also in tears. Following
you will hear my daughter read hands, Her face and
persona mimic her grandmother's perfectly.

Speaker 3 (03:34):
Hands by Gladys Latham. I glanced the other day at
my hands. I was ashamed at what I saw. The
nails were worn short and unpolished, the fingertips were rough,
the skin spotted and tanned. Then suddenly they reminded me
of a pair of hands out of my past, and

(03:56):
I smiled. These hands I last remembered as being still
and quiet, folded over a quiet breast, in eternal stillness
and much deserved rest. They had not been the hands
of a great artist or world renowned sculptor, nor had

(04:16):
they set immortal music on paper or penned lovely poetry.
But their work had been as beautiful and as immortal
as if they belonged to such studied and talented mortals.
These hands had had the blessed privilege of cuddling tiny,

(04:38):
downy heads to breast for food, the pleasure of scrubbing
pink ears and hands. They had changed mountains of diapers
and scrubbed tons of little clothes by hand. They had
buttoned thousands of buttons that somehow never seemed to stay
buttoned through long and tedious hours. Tucked pleats, gathered ruffles, frills, laces,

(05:06):
and embroidery had been applied to dainty dresses and suits
with infinite love and care. These hands had baked glamorous
birthday cakes, each done with special care and importance. Rolls, pies, cakes,
and cookies these hands make were the tastiest masterpieces ever

(05:29):
produced on earth. With unsurpassed devotion and tenderness, these hands
had soothed the brows fevered with measles, whooping cough, mumps,
and flu, and wiped a thousand noses. They had bandaged
hundreds of little toes with professional skill and neatness, and

(05:51):
wiped away the tears of fear and pain. These were
the hands that had plucked the peach tree switch to
administer discipline, never in anger, always in love. Then when
the terrified screams of nightmares of little ones came in
the night, there was always quieting love. These hands had

(06:16):
held the family Bible during family prayer and dressed a
large portion of the Sunday school enrollment on Sunday morning.
They had known the emptiness of burying a tiny first
born son. These the hands of a sculpture yes for

(06:38):
they had taken five small mounds of red God given
clay and molded five lovely, strong bodies the hands of
an artist. Yes, for with the tenderness of love, sacrifice,
and devotion they painted the picture of love and kindness

(07:02):
on the hearts and soul. Then the shame of my
work worn hands vanished, for they had reminded me of
the hands of my mother.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
And a special thanks to Roger Latham and his daughter
Candy for sharing that beautiful poem with us. My Mother's
hands a terrific job. Also on the production by Greg
Engler all show long, celebrating Mother's Day. Here on Our
American Stories, Lie Hibib here the host of Our American Stories.

(07:35):
Every day on this show, we're bringing inspiring stories from
across this great country, stories from our big cities and
small towns. But we truly can't do the show without you.
Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not
free to make. If you love what you hear, go
to Alamericanstories dot com and click the donate button. Give
a little, give a lot. Go to Alamerican Stories dot

(07:57):
com and give