Thursday, July 18, 2013

a week to go


A week to go now before your surgery
Counting down the days in July in 2013
Your family and friends helping you
Ready for the cancer to be excised.

I think of your two young children
And remember being a child of 13
When my mother was stricken with cancer
Though no one told her or us what it was.

I think of you preparing yourself
And remember how it was for me
When I was diagnosed and waiting
My turn on the surgeon’s table.

I send you the thoughts in my heart.
May you have the strength to bear what you must.
May your children know their mother’s love is assured.
May your husband be your comfort and help.

Everyone’s life changes over time
But sometimes it changes overnight.
We don’t get to choose what comes our way
How we respond reveals who we are.

We can cherish each day we are given
Tell the people we love that we love them
Let go of any minor annoyances
And enjoy the time we have with each other.




Wednesday, July 17, 2013

the person you are


It’s happy for me and all the people in your life
That you were born
And became the person you are
All these years every day
We know you will be good to us
Living with you is a pleasure.

It’s not easy getting old if you’re aware
Each year is gone never to be lived again
One less year left to be a human being
No matter that it was a good year
A certain sadness visits our thoughts
Thinking of loved ones taken from us.

Time stretches out more behind us than ahead
Looking back generation upon generation
Back and back to the beginning of life and the universe
It’s harder to imagine far into the future
We make plans for this year and next
We think about what might be 5 or 10 years from now.

Time stands still when you are in the moment
Today we are here with each other very much alive
We marvel at this amazing complex experience
Taking in what’s going on around us and with us
The flow of events near us and far distant
We have such a wonderful life. 

Saturday, July 13, 2013

ramapo river ramble

picassa album

Friday, July 12, 2013

Sunday, July 7, 2013

it was so hot

picassa album
It was so hot last night we lay on the couch
Watching a documentary about Siberia
Letting the below zero temperatures into our brains
Forgetting to turn on the bed room air conditioner.

It was so hot earlier that you agreed to go shopping
Just to walk around in the air conditioning
Instead of our usual perambulation around the park
Where the black-eyed susans droop and wither in the heat.

Waking in the night and checking the temperature
Still too hot to turn on the attic fan to suck cool air into the house.
Walking slowly on the shady side of the street in the morning
Still sweating profusely from the little exercise.

Studying the weather forecast asking when the heat will break
We are spared the torrential rains and flooding in the southeast.
We don’t have the broiling heat and wildfires in the southwest.
We don’t have to work outside in the hot afternoon sun.

It’s summer.  It’s as hot as it gets.
Get in a cool place if you can and chill out.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Fifth of July Visit

picassa album