“Oh the stillness of the room
Where the children used to play,
Oh the silence of the house,
Since the children went away.

This is the mother life—
To bear, to love, to lose;
Till all the sweet sad tale is told
In a pair of little shoes,

In a single broken toy
In a flower pressed, to keep
All fragrant still the faded life
Of them who fell asleep.”

I just looked up the author. Mary Clemmer. It’s from a long poem called “The Little Boot.” Poems about the death of children must have been more common back then, since it’s not a topic you see addressed much nowadays.

http://tinyurl.com/y8ftsds

Thanks for “the rest of the story,” Ardis.

Oh, and if you don’t catch the relevance of Georgia, here’s a start on American Civil War history. (If you decide to sing this at your next ward party, you might check to make sure first that there aren’t any Georgians among the missionaries–they apparently don’t like it much.)

There is a Mormon connection to Sherman’s famous statement. When Mo Udall was asked if he would run for President in 1984, he said: “If nominated, I shall run to Mexico. If elected, I shall fight extradition.”

(were tanks named after him? About that, I don’t have a clue!)

I loved the letter he wrote to her- hard to tell if he really did remember her, or if he did, and it was just written in the style of the time. Need to remember that not everyone would respond as I would, with lots of !!!!!!!,
))))))and CAPITALS for emphasis!

Another great post, thanks, Ardis. Has anyone nominated you for Mormon of the Year?

And what a blessing that was to him–and to all the little children who go to sleep with Wynken, Blynken and Nod.