ETHEL (DUFFETT) & GEORGE FRAMPTON

GEORGE, ED, KANE & ALEX

Left to Right: George Frampton, Ed Duffett (Ethel's brother), Kane Frampton, Alex Duffett (Ethel Frampton's brother).

NEWFOUNDLAND

O Newfoundland, isle of the sea,
Thou art the gateway to the West;
May all they future destiny
Be free from all that cause unrest.

Around thy rugged sea girt isle,
Lashed by the ocean night and day,
Thy stalwart sons in honest toil
Braves dangers midst the spume and spray.

Thy landlocked harbours, lakes and bays
Lies mirrored 'neath the moonlit sky,
And summer sunsets flaming rays
Gleams on the bold Gafftopsails high.

Thou hast fair towns and paper mills,
With teeming rivers flowing free,
And hamlets nestled 'neath the hills
Where fishing boats puts out to sea.

They headlands bold the storm defies
When towering waves seethes with unrest,
But when at peace the ocean lies,
Seagulls adorn it's placid breast.

Land of the brave, their Island home,
May Providence they future plan,
Where'er they sons and daughters roam,
They'll ne'er forget thee, Newfoundland.

(The Gafftopsails are high mountain peaks)

Photo: Gin Cove, Newfoundland

OUR LIFE'S DIARY

Our diary of life are past memories
That will follow us through to the end,
Every day we may meet new adventure,
As each day a new page we begin.

And as we turn backward it's pages
And scan every item thereon,
It brings to our mind many faces
Of friends that are vanished and gone.

Some pages bring back pleasant memories
That have followed us on through the years,
While others were penned in deep sorrow,
And blotted and blurred with our tears.

Some pages were written in sunshine
With our heyday of life at it's best,
While others were penned with misgivings
When we were perturbed by unrest.

Some events we will always remember,
They're indelible, hard to erase,
Maybe happy days in our childhood
That the future will never efface.

Each night as we close up our diary,
We know not what tomorrow may bring,
May there be no tear drops on it's pages,
But instead, happy memories that cling.

March, 1947

Photo: Front - L to R - Daughters, Betty & Nina; son, Eric; Wife, Ethel; Daughter-in-law, Eleanor. Back - L to R - George Frampton; son, Roy.

I SAT BY MY WINDOW

I sat by my window when the morning was bright,
As I watched my wife hanging out washing so white,
And she was so busy with work and with care,
While I sat so helpless here in my wheel-chair.

I sat by my window, when the sun it shone high,
As the wife began taking her clothes in so dry,
And as she was ironing her laundry so fair
I felt so despondent, sitting in my wheel-chair.

I sat by my window, watched my neighbour next door
Attending his garden and doing his chore,
And I thought of the day when I was busy too,
But now I seemed useless with nothing to do.

These thoughts then came to me, and I started this poem.
"Sure I should be thankful with family, and home;
With so many blessings, why should I despair,
I should feel so lucky, to have a wheel-chair."

When we are down-hearted, and feeling so blue,
Let us count our blessings, although they be few;
And think of the sufferers, the pain they all bear
That would feel so thankful to sit in a chair.

Photo: L to R - Sons, Eric & Ches; George Frampton; wife, Ethel; daughter, Betty; Son, Roy; daughter-in-law, Eleanor