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)	Message to a Child Who Stutters - by Joseph Sheehan (California, USA)
A Message from Charles Van Riper - by Charles Van Riper (deceased, USA)