Melba Constance (nee Smith) Dungey

My mother has passed on today, say a prayer for her. Thank you.

The Kindness Of Others by Melba Dungey

The Kindness Of Others

  by Melba Dungey


I feel like a warm fuzzy     My downward slide
surrounded  by love,      was interrupted,
looked down by God     and in my brain
smiling at the goodness     and in my heart
that  people have...      soft happiness
They touch me so, and     bursts forth...
I never expected it..       And you were part of it....
They felt my hurt,
and became warm
and very caring,
and each made
my world sweeter,
more gentle,
full of friendship,
full of good!
And I smiled
as I thanked God
 for all those that
made my days
 filled with goodness,
filled with joy,
filled with loving friendship..

What Adventure Did God Send Me Today?
  by Melba Dungey

 It's another day, ho, hum...
What's happened to me,
that I'm bored when the day starts?
When I feel like there is nothing new,
it's just another silly time to maybe go and rhyme,
 or just growl about dressing;
 it's so hard these days, 
and even baths,
though feeling great,
are just to much trouble to have to spend time and do......

But God I've never felt this way before!
 I always was a little child looking for adventure of the day it was,
 no matter how sad I was I knew it would be better.
Years ago when troubles flocked,
I learned that starting a new day,
sure felt different than it did last night.

And yet, here I am loosing the adventure of the new day,
 when I sure need a different attitude...

The adventure, You God, chose for me and I squashed it,
 sure I  knew best and I didn't know at all... 

Forgive me God,
and may I be excited about the adventure tomorrow,
 be it small like one e-mail,
or large, like a dear one stopping to see me..

I will be happy, for tomorrow's  adventure will be wonderful!
And so will all my tomorrows.....

Daffodil Time

  Daffodil Time


And the daffodils are crying to be seen,
for they have determined
that it's their turn to shine,
mirroring the sunlight they breathe,
and all the joy they spread
is there for us to see.

While we hide our heads,
in darkened halls,
and forget that spring has burst open,
and daffodils are waiting
for weary, winter eyes, to see...

                                 Melba Dungey
                                 April 17, 2008

The Loneliness of the Soul by Melba Dungey, stuck in a nursing home...

The Loneliness of the Soul

Life may be a dance

When things all turn right,

but it may be a bumpy ride

in an old wheel chair

as some bed borders

scream telling it isn't enough!

It chills our lives

trying to mesh everything,

while hiding the

aloneness of our soul,

as inwardly we weep

for our loneliness

that seems to grow

with the facts of life

We wish did not exist...

Oh! What small things

Turn big in us instead of us

I loose myself in loneliness

I cry in my heart

for I have to squeltch

my loneliness

to come eventually to joy!

Melba Dungey

Storytelling is an education enjoyed...

I can cook... from Nanette Lee Dolan nee Dungey

I can cook, thanks to Mom!

What I really got from Mother, other than indoor bare feet and the like, was the ability and love of cooking. Obviously, I did not inherit it, but she instilled it in me from before I can remember. The summer before I started 6th grade (or maybe 7th, but I think it was 6th), she had me make dinner every Thursday. In fact, one Thursday, I was at the creek swimming and talking with a neighborhood friend and her mother, when I suddenly jumped up and said that I had to go cook supper. The mother wanted to know more, and I explained that Mom was teaching me to cook and making me fix dinner every Thursday. That neighbor woman was very impressed, but I don’t know if my friend ended up having to learn to cook as well.

Mother’s emphasis on my learning to cook led to one of my outstanding moments in the first few months of John’s and my marriage. I was going to school during the day, and he worked the second shift, so we didn’t see much of each other before the weekends. One Friday, I decided to bake some bread because I like homemade bread and I wanted to surprise John. When he came home, he sniffed the air and said, “What’s that? It smells like bread.” I responded that it was bread baking. I’m not sure that he heard me because he went into the kitchen, looked in the oven, and came back to say, “There’s bread in the oven. You can cook!” I said, “Of course, I can cook. I cooked for you before we got married.” John’s response was, “I thought that you were just cooking things you knew how to cook well to impress me. You can bake bread! You can cook!”

All my cooking skill starts with Mother. Thank you, Mom, from all of us in North Carolina for the fact that I can cook. I love you.
Happy 80th Birthday to Mom!

Nanette