footprints

See History of Mary Stevenson

And her reclaim to the Poem

at the bottom of the page

Footprints In The Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking

along the beach with the Lord.

Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.

Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that

during the low periods of my life, when I

was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
You promised me Lord, that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.

But I have noticed that during the most trying

periods of my life there has only been one set

of footprints in the sand.

Why, when I needed you most, have you not

been there for me?

The Lord replied,
The years when you have seen only

one set of footprints, my child,

is when I carried you.

Mary Stevenson

The above words are the original

poem penned by Mary Stevenson.

The narration of Footprints vary somewhat.

Narrator is unknown

Mary Stevenson (Zangare)
November 8, 1922~January 1999

Mary was born November 8, 1922
in the Philadelphia suburb of
Chester, PA. She had many brothers
and sisters, but was still able to
maintain her individuality and strong
headedness. This became even more
difficult after the loss of her mother
at age six, which forced her father
to raise all eight children by himself.
Most of her childhood was spent during
one of this Nation's toughest and most
trying times, The Great Depression.

Other person's besides Mary claimed
they wrote the poem and claimed the
fame for it. However, during a move
to another location in 1980, Mary
came across the original poem she had
in small forgotten valise filled with
many of the poems she had written over
the years. Among all this was a lost
copy of 'Footprints in the Sand' that
she hadn't seen since moving into her
house in 1959.

Mary decided to pursue her claim to
authorship and later in the year was
awarded a copyright for her poem.
Eleven years later her 1939 copy
of 'Footprints in the Sand' was
authenticated as genuine by a forensic
specialist and said to be approximately
fifty-plus years old. This would pre-date
any claims made by others of authorship
including Margaret Fishback-Powers who
has said to have written it 1964.

Mary worked for many years to gain
recognition for creating 'Footprints in
the Sand', which has continued even after
her passing in January of 1999

Biography in part is information given
at http://www.footprints-inthe-sand.com/
Please visit this site for in depth
information on Mary's life. To view the
forensic report
http://www.footprints-inthe-sand.com/ForensicReport.htm