Shirley Swislow

December 17th, 2015

I met Ms. Shirley as an Election Judge in Highland Park. She was a pleasure to work with. We kept in contact over the years by sharing a few meals together at Corner Bakery, Walker Bros. She was a gentle, warm, wise, woman. She loved her family. Spoke often about Sam, her grandson, with a smile always.

I will miss her smile and our conversations.

Regards,

Beverly

~Beverly Mull
~Election Judge, Zion, IL

December 13th, 2015

I remember Shirley very well. It was through her picking up Sam from his school in Chicago that I got to meet her “Family” and eventually get to work along side her son, Robert, in his POP business. She was a very gentile soul who always had a smile on her voice and in her conversation with whoever she had conversation. She will dearly be missed and remembered.
I wrote a poem to honor another person who I had deep respect for and I find it fitting to repeat as she deserves the same recognition.

“I can hear the music all around me.”

The music Played
all my life
My Mom sang to me
while I was inside
her warmth.
My Father sang songs
to her egg shaped
abdomen while I,
rested within.
In the room of my birth,
sweet music,
permeated the air,
as I consumed
my first breath.

My family,
when they first met,
held and
welcomed me
to the clan,
sang joyously of my birth.
I struggled to walk,
to eat, to sleep,
to dream,
to be.
Those around me
sang daily, their praises,
of my accomplishments.

I, sang to my teachers
and they sung to me.
They sung about
the joys,
the trials
and the tribulations of
a world that
awaited
my learned talents.
I sang for
my supper and
I joined the chorus
of life.
Our combined voices
veiled our
individual,
off key notes.
Within that choir
arose a song
that sang about dawn,
the warm breath of a Spring
laced with the sweet
smell of gardenias
and the tenderness of
a seemingly endless,
Summer of love.

We sang together,
a song of
our choosing.
Our song,
eventually
enveloped us
with a sweet warmth
of mutual heartfelt feelings
only we,
would recognize, respect
and respond to.

Our music,
and our joy,
presented us with
children that arrived
as newborns and
left as adults,
singing forward
their songs of life.

We sang of
their accomplishments.
We sang songs,
passed to us
by many generations of
our people and tribes
to sing anew.

I sang,
to those who would listen,
the wonderment
and fulfillment
of dreams that
became my reality,
and my life.

And now, in the quiet
of my surroundings,
a tempestuous song
presents itself
as it wells up
from a never known
utter darkness.

It is not harsh,
nor deeming,
but wondrous,
lifting and beautiful,
beyond any imagination.

Now,

“I can hear the music
all around me” *

“e” 2009

My tribute to the * final words
of actor and musician
Dudley Moore d, March 27th 2003

Dave Smalley / D. B. S. COPYRIGHT 2009 All rights reserved

~Dave Smalley
~Friend for a number of years, Porter, Indiana

December 13th, 2015

Mark,

Your mom was a warm and wonderful person. I am deeply sorry for your loss. My sincere condolences to you & your family.

Alan Rose

~Alan Rose
~Friend, Chicago, IL