The Pioneers' Anniversary

The years are passing, Nancy,
Yes, the years are passing fast,
The year just gone it seems to me
Went quicker than the last.
Our heads are tingeing now with gray,
Our steps not quite so sure,
But then I'm not complaining, Dear,
For blessings still endure.
We'll have the children here again,
Yes, all of them today
Except the little one, once ours,
Once ours, now passed away.

How fast the years are flying now
What changes swift they bring
Sweet joy to some, to others pain,
Worse than the adder's sting.
Ah! well for us, yes, well, indeed,
We cannot know today,
The joys or griefs that future days
Have for us stored away.
An angel hand may guide us yet,
For years before we part,
The hands of friends be needed soon
To bind a broken heart.

^__Ed Blair.