Having spent some time recently with an elderly relative at a memory care facility, I was newly moved by Jeanette Hardage’s description of a family member’s thoughts in this difficult situation. Her poem below, which was included in the Faith and Other Matters anthology, expresses …
Read MoreChoose Joy
One of Jeanette Hardage’s daughters recently came across an unpublished poem in Jeanette’s handwriting tucked away inside a piece of old furniture. She had probably not intended it for publication, as it contained none of her usual word choice edits. With candor she shares how …
Read MoreLooking Back
On this fifth anniversary of Jeanette Hardage’s passing, it seems fitting to contemplate her death through the lens that she provided as she reflected on her own experience of losing someone dear. The poem below is included in her Faith and Other Matters anthology. Lastingness …
Read MoreI Have Known Rain
Some of Jeanette Hardage’s most powerful verses are those that dwell on painful subjects. She frequently employed nature as a metaphor in her poetry. In the poem below, published in Faith and Other Matters, she uses rain to express her heartfelt sadness, melancholy, even despair. …
Read MoreA Child’s View of Death
On January 24, 1935, Jeanette Hardage’s younger brother Patrick died when he was not quite 7 weeks old. She included a poem about this experience in her Faith and Other Matters collection under the title of “Susie’s Question.” Since she was only just approaching her …
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