 |
| Helen, Letty, Jonya, Johnie Stapp c. 1953 |
There were two little girls
A blue-eyed beauty
Who danced like a whirling gig and sang for the folks.
There were two little girls
A green-eyed child
Who galloped like a horse and pretended to be a circus flyer.
 |
| Letty Stapp with Sherry Cantrell c. 1955 on E. st SE, Miami, Ok |
There were two little girls
One blue-eyed little
girl
Whose dark curly dangled and danced all over her head
She smiled and giggled and brought
Joy to the world.
There were two little girls
The other a green-eyed little
girl
Whose light brown hair bounced like a butterfly.
The sun and heat graced her face
When she pretended to
be Tarzan.
 |
| Jonya, Dad, Letty Long Beach, California c.1961 |
There were two little girls
One with curls
Who loved playing with dolls; paper dolls, Tony dolls, and
rosy cheeked baby dolls.
On the stage they felt
no fear.
There were two little girls
One without curls
Who raced little cars through dirt and sand, and
Built houses out of blocks and furniture out of sticks.
Through competition
they learned fear and accomplishment.
 |
| Letty and Jonya, Prairie Dunes c. 2010 |
There were two little girls whose lives drifted apart
One learned a new language and found beauty in Spain
And her calling in
Spanish, a teacher she became.
 |
| Jonya in Antigua, Guatemala 2018 |
The other discovered books and traveled the world through
words
And felt the call of
a library, a storytelling teacher she became.
There were two little girls, curious little girls
Together they bounced through roaring streams and ocean
currents;
Gathered sea shells, rocks,
leaves, and baby bunnies;
Chased fireflies and
listened to the evening echo of locusts.
Their curious love of nature centered their lives.
There were two little girls maturing through adventures,
Through pain and loss.
 |
| Jack and Letty at Texas State Fair, 2017 |
Families they raised and shared their hearts with loved ones.
One year they lost their parents, and old secrets lost their
hold.
Their worlds spun but not without control.
The blue-eyed brunette grew to fairy tale stature with
Flowing curly hair the
color of arctic ice,
Shirts of every color danced around her feet.
Her radiant smile and lyrical stories charm those around her.
 |
| Bill and Jonya cruising 2017 |
The green-eyed sister changed glasses by color and shapes,
Much like her Miss
Clairol hair.
She loved the laughter of children and people at play
And turned to the golf course where she lost her worries among
the trees.
 |
| Letty c. 2017 |
There were two little girls, aging like good wine
Who, one day, found
themselves looking in the mirror
Laughing as curls the color of silver and ice danced and
dangled around their faces.
And right in the middle of their foreheads curls bounced as
they giggled at themselves.
Their hearts filled with love, a passion for life, thanks to
their parents and the world that raised the two little girls.
 |
| Jonya and Letty, c 2016 |
**Dedicated to our parents Helen and Johnie Stapp who died
August 26, 1989 and October 21, 1989 respectively, and to our families and friends, past and
present who helped to raise two strong women.
