An ode to Catherine

To the editor:

I would like to let you know how much my husband and I enjoy reading your paper. We have been subscribers for some time now and always find interesting reading.

Therefore, I am including a poem written by our 92-year-old neighbor, which we though should be shared with others to give people some humor during these days of “gloom and doom.”

It is titled “Ode to Catherine.”

“The year of 2020 we soon won’t forget. The World Wide Pandemic has affected us all. You bet. Schools were closed. Stay at home and work from home. Wear a mask if you’re not alone. Sanitize and wash your hands. The flu is spreading over all our lands.

Toilet paper in short supply. People hoarding it. Now, how do we get dry? Should you use five or six sheets? Or maybe just two? Nope, then the fingers will sure go through. So use whatever works for you. I used to spin the toilet paper roll like I was on the “Wheel of Fortune” show. Well now I turn it like I was a safe cracker, going mighty slow.

Well it’s birthday time for someone who is 92. I’m like an old clock that’s been wound up many times. I lose a few minutes now and then. But good things take time. If you made things in a hurry, they wouldn’t be worth a dime. ’Cause good things take time.

I thought getting older would take a lot longer than it did. Seems only yesterday I was a snot-nosed kid. So, with God’s help and my family, I just might make it to 93.

The advantage of getting older is you just do what you can. Just give me a crossword puzzle, jigsaw puzzle or a good book, and a fan.

So at 92, I’ll just keep on doing what I’ve been doing. Now that’s my plan.”

Written and composed by Catherine Otte.

Carol Riffel,
Herington