Looking Back and Looking Forward: It Gets Easier

by Alan Badmington (Wales) Anita Blom (Sweden), Moussa Dao (Burkina Faso, Africa), Paul Goldstein (Norway), Lieven Grommen (Belgium), Andrew Harding (UK), Russ Hicks (USA), Mike Hughes (Canada), Marty Jezer (USA), Barak Liberman (Israel), Gunars Neiders (USA), Louis Roden (USA), David Shapiro (USA), and Charles Van Riper (deceased, USA)

Several years ago I found a poem about a bridge builder that I really liked. The bridge picture is from "Pictures from Havasu Canyon, Arizona Stanford Outing Club, November 1999" (www.emufarm.org/~cmbell/outing). Judy Kuster

The Bridge Builder

by Will Allen Dromgrode, 1934

An old man, going a lone highway,
Came at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was a flowing sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,
"You are wasting strength with building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day:
You never again must pass this way:
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide --
Why build you a bridge at eventide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head:
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,
"There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, Too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building a bridge for him."

Although most of these grown-ups who stutter are much younger than the "bridge builder" described in the poem, they have consented to be a special kind of bridge builder for kids who stutter by sharing a short article about something they wish grown-ups who stutter had told them when they were kids. The modern bridgebuilders articles are linked below. Each article has its own threaded discussion for comments and/or questions. After reading what other "bridge builders" have said, other adults are encouraged to post a short message that you wish an adult who stutters had told you when you were a child. Please use the threaded discussions attached to each article to respond to individual papers.

It's Good To Talk About It by Alan Badmington (Wales) A New Day by Anita Blom (Sweden)
When I was Eleven - by Andrew Harding (England) Live Your Dreams! - by Paul Goldstein (Norway)
Words I wish an adult who stutters had told me when I was a child - by Barak Liberman (Israel) Cross That Bridge - by Lieven Grommen (Belgium)
Class Reunions - by Russ Hicks (Texas, USA) Fuhgeddaboutit - by Mike Hughes (Canada) .
Shame - by Marty Jezer (USA) Be Yourself - by Moussa Dao (Burkina Faso, Africa)
The Tears Will Fade by Louis Roden (California, USA) Just the Way You Are - by David Shapiro (North Carolina, USA)
Like Yourself, Believe in Yourself, and Work Hard to Reach Your Goals - by Gunars Neiders (Washington, USA) A Message from Charles Van Riper - by Charles Van Riper (deceased, USA)

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