Thursday, February 16, 2017

The Gifts of Age

The Gift-Wrap & The Jewel by Wanda B. Goines


I looked in the mirror and what did I see, but a little old lady peering back at me
With bags and sags and wrinkles and wispy white hair, and I asked my reflection,
How did you get there?
You once were straight and vigorous and now you’re stooped and weak, when I tried so hard to keep you from becoming an antique
My reflection’s eyes twinkled as she solemnly replied, you’re looking at the gift wrap and not the jewel inside
A living gem and precious, of unimagined worth
Unique and true, the real you, the only you on earth
The years that spoil your gift-wrap with other things more cruel, should purify and strengthen, and polish up that jewel
So focus your attention on the inside, not the out
On being kinder, wiser, more content and more devout
Then, when your gift-wrap’s stripped away your jewel will be set free, to radiate God’s glory throughout eternity
Wanda Burch Goines went home to be with Jesus in February 2016

HuffPost 10/12/2015 "Wanda Goines, mother to eight children, grandmother to 15 and great-grandmother of four, lives in the Cave Junction, Oregon house that her father built. Her eldest son is internationally known artist David Lance Goines, who told The Huffington Post that his mother was an accomplished artist and calligrapher who at age 87 wrote and illustrated her first published book, Bunnyfluff Wants To Fly. David Lance Goines’ posters are collected by museums worldwide, and he credits his mother with being the only art teacher he ever had."

Mail Tribune Aug 18, 2010 "Wanda Goines paints mainly in oils, though she learned watercolor painting at age 75. She has donated a series of large, whimsical paintings of babies to the Neonatal wing of Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley. And she recently published a book of children's stories, "Bunny Fluff Wants to Fly," with 32 charming, full-page illustrations. "I wanted every other page to be a picture, so children sitting on both sides would have something to look at," says Goines. Alta Bates is selling the book as a fundraiser. *(Alta Bates Hospital, Berkeley, 2010)

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