The Healing Journey

February 17, 2025

The following is excerpted from “Our Presidents: 25 of Them Shared Our Pain” by an unknown author:

“Our 30th President, Calvin Coolidge had two sons. While in office his 16-year-old son Calvin Jr. received a blister on his foot after playing tennis. Five days later he died from blood poisoning. President Coolidge wrote in his autobiography, ‘When he went, the power and the glory of the presidency went with him. I do not know why such a price was extracted for occupying the White House.’ His wife wrote a poem on the fifth anniversary of his death. Because many bereaved mothers often wrote her, she sent it for publication to Good Housekeeping magazine in hopes that it would bring comfort to others.”

The Open Door
by Grace Coolidge
You, my son,
have shown me God.
Your kiss upon my cheek
has made me feel the gentle touch
of Him who leads us on.
The memory of your smile, when young,
reveals His face,
as mellowing years come on apace.
And when you went before,
you left the Gates of Heaven ajar
that I might glimpse,
approaching from afar,
the glories of His Grace.
Hold, Son, my hand,
guide me along the path,
that, coming,
I may stumble not,
nor roam,
nor fail to show the way
which leads us home.

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