Bea Lewis

 Isn't it nice to be needed?  And then of course isn't it nice to have freedom?  

 One grandmother, Freda Garbose from Worchester, Mass. relishes her freedom, but then again, she has to squeeze the fun times between calls from her children  who need her.

Always at the ready - waiting for that next call, Freda expresses her thoughts in the following poem. (Any grandmother who never learned to say NO can certainly relate! )    

Where is that delicious retirement time I anticipated would be mine?

Those hours to write. paint and sight see lost by not focusing energy on me.

I'm on call and the calls come from far and near

It's impossible to say no to those I hold dear.

Babysitting, sick visits and helping others

are time consuming for friends and mothers.

 ON call, on call.

Responding to the needy voices I hear

except for the one I hear whispering inside my ear

Do I need call waiting? A hearing aid? Or a louder voice.