From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Port Alberni, BC, Canada

Each year I supply pumpkin plants to our five senior care and assisted living homes in the Alberni Valley. These homes have been competing for several years to see who can grow the biggest pumpkin. Remember these residents have dementia, altzheimers, etc. I have been invited to preside over the weigh-off for the past few years. Usually a bathroom scale is enough to weigh the "pumpkin." I've even had to use a postal scale as the bathroom scale could't register a weight.
The following was written by a resident this year and I thought I'd share it with you.
Enjoy. Jake

An Ode To a Lost Friend

Our Abbeyfield home was presented
With a pumpkin plant with a peddigree.
We felt that we were quite lucky
as we came by this treasure for free.

Our aim was to sire a pumpkin
that would outweigh all the rest.
In our homr we don't do things half way,
We always go for the best.

At first our plant looked vibrant and healthy,
And after planting, it started to leaf.
But the time for it to flourish,
Turned out to be very brief.

Some felt that our plant might be lonely,
So it was moved to a much denser spot.
It perked up a bit, for a short time,
We were concerned that it might just rot.

Once again our delicate plant
Started slowly to fail.
It was given much love and the best of care
But all to no avail.

Sadly our courageous little plant
Gave up the struggle and died.
We weren't meant to have a big pumpkin
No matter how hard we tried.

So now we are seeking closure,
And feeling a litte bad.
For our big "humungous" pumpkin
That we only wish we had.

by Mary Ella Newberry, October 2009

10/11/2009 6:48:47 PM

Nice Jake,,,thanks for sharing.

DB

10/11/2009 8:46:16 PM

Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

Very touching Jake. You obviously put some joy into the lives of these people, as witnessed by this poem. You're a class act.

10/11/2009 9:22:22 PM

Boise City, Oklahoma, USA

That is very... I am definitely saving that one.

How awesome what you do for them!

10/11/2009 11:59:41 PM

(rocky) Bonney Lake Wa.

Thanks for that jake

10/12/2009 1:42:13 AM

Netherlands

A special double meaning to that one. Thanks for sharing Jake.

10/12/2009 2:35:31 AM

Rhode Island

jake---more people should follow your lead.

we will all be in that position some day.

pap

10/12/2009 9:33:57 AM

Sort of Sunny Sometimes, WA

Awww.. . thanks Jake.

10/12/2009 12:42:31 PM

Farmville, Virginia ([email protected])

God Bless you Jake! That is an AWESOME thing you are doing there!
Also, that poem should be adopted by all pumpkin growers...just to remind us that some years just ain't our year!

10/13/2009 12:23:40 AM