I remember when as a child
How brave I was, and oh, how wild.
I never dreamed the day would come,
When out of breath, I could not run.
If you had told me way back then,
With just one smoke my race would end.
I surely would have laughed at you,
And said “Oh no, that can’t be true.”
I loved to run, to play and hide,
To saddle up my horse and ride.
I’d push myself to do my best.
My body, I knew, could take the test.
When forty years had come and gone
I was still there, still holding on.
I made it you see, with no regrets,
And I was still smoking my cigarettes.
But time has a way of fooling your mind.
It will pass you by and leave you behind.
It will tell you a lie and make you believe.
It will give you a goal you can never achieve.
So I huffed and I puffed, and I struggled along,
While my worst enemy just kept getting strong.
“You’re mine” he said, “And there’s no doubt,
The pleasure I give, you can’t live without.”
So where can I go, and what can I do?
The warnings they gave have proved to be true.
Who told me this lie, and did they know,
The doom of choice I made long ago?
Or were they laughing behind my back,
With every dime, and with every pack?
The money they stole will never return,
Forever it seems, the ashes will burn.
So why punish me and condemn me I pray?
For the lie wasn’t mine, but the price I will pay.
The cost was my life and the things that I love,
The pleasures that now, I can only dream of.
A walk in the park or a stroll by the sea.
It’s no longer mine, they stole that from me.
So why punish me for the things I have lost?
Addiction you see, that’s The Ultimate Cost.
Written by:
Judy Glanton Mckinley
In honor of the memory of my mother,
Judy Glanton Mckinley
December 9, 1949 – December 14, 2003
A woman of may talents.
Miss Georgia Bodybuilding title
Author: A Southern Legacy: Life On A Mill Village
Musician, Singer, Song writer, Daughter, Sister, Mother, Grandmother, and most of all A Friend.
Just wanted to take a moment to share a poem my mother wrote many years ago. Those words prove to be true to me everyday. If only I had listened and really understood those words 25 years ago.
I am posting this in her honor with the hopes that someone may read her words and really take to heart the true meaning. And just maybe her words can help someone.
The struggle is real!