An Angel in My Garden

By Mart Grams and Jennifer Achterberg

An Angel in My Garden contains poems that were written over the time I met my wife through her life to her passing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796012132

Mart Grams

59, lived in Wisconsin nearly my entire life excepting college and military. recently widowed from my wife of 33 years, two sons, two granddaughters and another on the way. Live in a small town of Shawano WI having taught here and in nearby Gresham WI for 30 years. Volunteer at local county Historical Society, member of Masons, American Legion, Scout instructor.

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Copyright © 2019 by Mart Grams.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2019900866

ISBN:                  Hardcover                       978-1-7960-1215-6

                             Softcover                         978-1-7960-1214-9

                             eBook                              978-1-7960-1213-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 01/25/2019

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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Contents

Growing Old

Grandfather

I Am

Mysteries

Summer and Winter

Death of a Friend

Time

A Lonely Boy

Cuando La Veo

El Amor

Nutmeg and Blood

A sleepy night after Thanksgiving.

The Clock of Time

The Dreamer’s Dream

Love Is Not All (Sonnet XXX)

I Awake

Mi Amor

Linda, from Me to You

You

El Soñador

Only a Short While Will I Be

How Much Can I Love You

Linda

A Woman

Summer

Christmas

Loving You Always

Two for the price of one!

A Child Is Born

A la Linda

My Favorite Book

Making Love with My Love

My Dearest Linda

¿Qué es un hombre sin mujer?

Happy Mother’s Day

On Our Anniversary

With Love

When Emptiness Is Full

Life

What’s the Good?

A Woman, a Lady, a Soul

For Linda, the one who has inspired me more than life itself.

All my love,

Mart

How does one put a life together on paper? There were struggles, which we all have lived together. There were fights; some were major, and many were minor. There were illnesses, missed birthdays, forgotten apologies, and too few I love yous. However, there were days of rapture and love so hard that our hearts stopped. As I write this, she has been gone one year—a year of complete emptiness, of empty rooms, of no hellos, no goodbyes, no good mornings, and no good nights. For a year, no one has asked, Are you coming to bed?

How do I fill this abyss? I have begun. Love does not diminish by loving another. This is not going to be a self-help book. Don’t expect me to assist you in your grief. This is a love story from before and after a thirty-five-year affair, a relationship, a commitment (the state called it marriage), and a life shared together. I will not be telling you how she was as a lover, wife, mother, grandmother, friend, daughter, granddaughter, librarian, or community volunteer. That’s her story. Someone less biased, less touched, and less involved may do that.

This is my story without her, with her, and again without her. Please hold judgment of her and anyone else mentioned here. All is to be laid at my feet. However, some have helped. All photos, drawings, and artistic ideas were from a colleague—no, a friend—of mine. Jennifer Achterberg is a fine young lady, herself struggling with life, but aren’t we all? Her ideas fill these pages.

My sons, Nate and Ben (she called them Nene and her Bun-bun) kept me from giving up. At times, my tears literally fell on the pages of old love letters, which most of these poems were taken from. We sorted, read, and clipped the more than thirty