Time to go?

Old Friends

“Time it was and what a time it was

It was…

A time of innocence

A time of confidences

Long ago it must be…I have a photograph

Preserve your memories they’re all that’s left you.”

                                                                                         Paul Simon

I got a smile from my mother today…

         Amidst all of the cries of pain, wanting to die, there

         was a faint recognition of the past good times.

                                                       
Over in the corner, close by her bed, an old man (father/husband) struggles to understand. Why should his wife of 63 years not want to eat or take her medications?

A hurricane of thoughts and feelings...

There were those times when my mother spent hours on the phone telling me about some book she was reading. Her enthusiasm was contagious...her excitement uncontainable. While I may not have liked the same kind of stuff it was just so nice to be included in her day.

 

...I'm not half the man I used to be.

It was so strange having to tell my father how to find a phone number with directory assistance. When he first got his pace maker put in, he was no longer the same man. It couldn't have been more than about a year before that with anyone and every one, who came to visit, he would screen one of his favorite movies, "The Great Waltz".

It's a hokey, totally contrived Hollywood biopic about the waltz king, Johann Straus. I used to kid him about it but it was fun to see his excitement.

Part of life

The majority of people on this planet will bury their parents at some advanced age. And yet, there isn't much written about how people deal with such a loss. You'd think that when you get to a certain age one would almost "get use to the idea" but it ain't  necessarily so.

Within me is a heart unwilling to say goodbye.