The Elder Statesman

Forever in Love
By June Cotner
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Hardbound $16.95 

By BILL DUNCAN
The News-Review

Sunday I attended the 50th wedding anniversary party for Kenneth (Dick) and Beulah Schuldt at the Riversdale Grange. From the size of the crowd there, most of Roseburg must have been friends of the couple, he a retired school teacher and she, still active as a registered nurse.

The enduring love for each other, was quite evident. It was what author June Cotner calls in the subtitle of her book, "A Celebration of Love and Romance." Dick and Beulah are the epitomy of what Cotner captured in her 21st book. Each of her books is a collection of prayers, poems and prose relating to a single subject.

"I started collecting love poems a number of years ago and as the book developed, I realized I wanted the poems to reflect a progression through a lifelong marriage," Cotner said in an interview. "While our society tends to idealize the lust-love of a new relationship, it is the true love of a long-term committed relationship that is the ultimate dream for most of us."

Cotner’s books always include a "Letter to Readers" as an introduction explaining to readers "why I wrote the book and how the idea originated and developed," she said. "That way, readers can see how my personal thoughts on the subject guided me in choosing selections."

She said the chapters in each book express the themes. In "Forever in Love," the words collected from a wide range of sources explore love and its intricacies arranged in chapters she calls a "particular love stage in a relationship."

For her numerous books, Cotner has more than 700 contributors who regularly send her poems and prayers. "I consider about 2,000 submissions that come via notices I place in ‘Writer’s Digest’ and ‘Poets and Writers’ magazines." In addition, she says, she reads many books on the subject seeking the perfect poem or quote.

"Two of my favorite contributors are Barbara Crooker and Arlene Gay Levine, who have contributed to my books for years," she said. "Barbara Crooker’s poems exquisitely describe the extraordinary in the ordinary."

A poem simply called "Ordinary Life," is in Cotner’s "Forever In Love." Barbara writes:

"This was a day when nothing happened" and goes on to describe a richly satisfying life filled with details of getting the children off to school, cleaning the cupboards, drinking tea, preparing dinner, and "the drift into homework." She writes that "this has been a day of grace — a day that unwrapped itself like an unexpected gift."

Levine, on the other hand, captures deep appreciation for individuals as well as "frail humanity" in her poem, "The Gift," in which she writes: "How blessed it is in this desperate, beautiful world to know and hold the reason for being here, my love, happening upon your light and remembering, this is the gift."

While working on the "Forever in Love," manuscript, Cotner says at the concept stage, she did not have a chapter devoted to "in  sickness and health." the traditional part of wedding vows. "However, since many of the contributors wrote eloquently about experiences with a partner’s illness, I decided it needed its own chapter."

As a reviewer, I was surprised by the number of entries written by men. Women by nature are the nurturers and the male species have a more difficult time putting into words love and romance. Since I am a failed poet, I use that as an excuse, but as a closet romantic I like to read poetry aloud so long as I am in the closet.

Cotner’s other books have similar themes. One of her first books, "Graces," has been in print for over a decade. The author, the mother of two grown children, lives in Poulsbo, Wash. with her husband. She said she believes marriage is a perfect concept. One of the quotes she has in the book, relates to that philosophy:

"What counts in the making of a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatiblity."

-Leo Tolstoy

Beulah and "Dick" Schuldt have lived by that philosophy for 50 years.

I endeavor to create books that uplift the human spirit, offer comfort, encouragement, hope and inspiration for everyday life, help us appreciate our blessings, help celebrate life’s major passages and offer subtle insights to improve our relationships with others."

She encourages readers to contribute to future books or make suggestions on her web site: http://www.junecotner.com and remarked, that "Earlier this week, a woman wrote suggesting I create a book on "Prayers and Poems for Peace." 

Sidebar Story

Poem comforts her last night

On the day the book, "Forever in Love," by June Cotner arrived from the publisher for a review I was called to sit with a dying patient at the Roseburg VA hospital where I volunteer with the Hospice program, I took the book with me. The patient, a woman veteran, was asleep when I arrived, so I started scan reading Cotner’s book. I heard the patient stir and then saw her open her eyes. In a weak voice she asked:

"What are you reading?"

When I told her it was a book of poems she asked me to read a poem and I chose at random "On Valentine’s Day."  

An old man got on a bus one February 14th, carrying a dozen roses. He sat behind a young man. The young man looked at the roses and said, "Somebody’s going to get a beautiful Valentine’s Day gift."

"Yes," said the old man.

A few minutes went by and the old man noticed that his young companion was staring at the roses. "Do you have a girlfriend?" the old man asked.

"I do," said the young man: "I’m going to see her right now, and I’m going to give her this Valentine’s Day card."

They rode in silence for another ten minutes, and then the old man got up to get off the bus. As he stepped out into the aisle, he suddenly placed the roses on the young man’s lap and said, "I think my wife would want you to have these. I’ll tell her I gave them to you."

He left the bus quickly. As the bus pulled away, the young man turned to see the old man enter the gates of a cemetery.

-Author unknown 

My patient listened quietly as I read the prose then she said in a weak whisper, "that sounds like something my husband would do," and drifted back into a drug induced sleep.

She died the next day.

-Bill Duncan