I wonder...

Drove past the care home where mum spent her last few years on this planet

I wonder how many of them, her friends, are still living
and who now inhabits her apartment,
and I wonder if that inhabitant too has a son who visits
to natter, clean the fridge, date check the food
and make tea whilst listening to oft' repeated words.
I also wonder if each time goodbyes are said
whether he thinks this may well be the last goodbye,
his last living memory of the one constant in his life
as death a more than regular visitor to God's waiting room,
calling without invitation to collect the last breath of all that live there.
And when that time comes, as it surely will,
I wonder if that son will be ready, prepared
for the heartbreak, the devastation and subsequent loneliness
that takes hold when hearing that news, those words.
I wonder because I wasn't, and near 5 years on
there is still an emptiness that memories cannot fill.

Reviews

[emmajoygreen]

We were seven children of, of course, the best father and then later the best mother ever. As we aged, having cried so much at different times.. we decided we had to think of what our first gone, daddy/dad and then our little mum would have wanted for us... and that, above everything, anything to live with happy memories. And we've done our best to stick to that. In a way, grief is for the one or ones left behind.. we seem emptier, alone.. bereft and all those words, yes. But left without that darling person we could and can somehow keep walking by holding a hand or hands that will appear in heart and mind whenever needed. Love is made to live forever.. .. it can and it does. I was the youngest of seven and know that it WAS there in spirit if not via loving arms. Dear Lord, I wish otherwise.

[Gee]

Mum was never one for being overtly affectionate but she would work herself into illness to provide and make sure birthdays and Christmas would be present filled and the table, if only a couple of times a year, was laden with goodies.
They don't make parents the way they used to it is it that folk now have no regard to the wedding vows they exvhange!I
Thank you for dropping in for a read and for commenting.
Hope all is well in the South west(ish) and you are taking care of yourself

[emmajoygreen]

I remember how proud you were - and still are, of your mum, a true heroine (i prefer that word) who fought for everything posssible for her children plus planted her ethics and courage in them. Could say more but.. said long, long ago. All's okay, thank you, few complaints worth airing! Hope your Friday weather shows a dry weekend for you and your lovely ladies! Have fun, Gee

[redd Brick Keshner]

Oh, yes. Have that same feeling driving past dad’s former nursing home. A very moving poem 🙏🏻🕊

[Gee]

Thanks Rick..

[Arundass TP]

Interesting poem filled with wonders of life and its mystery beyond. Good poem

[Gee]

Thank you kindly ATP

[Relic]

For those of us who have lost a parent, this is totally relatable. The cycle of life often goes on not just for us, but for those that will follow.

[Gee]

Thank you Relic

[Soren]

Loss can be a very difficult thing to deal with. This poem carries with it a feeling of age and loss. Well worded with images that evoke such feelings it speaks to the heart and asks a question that all of us must answer sooner or latter.

[Gee]

Thank you Soren

[Beren]

ma'm, I loved this poem, it is understandable and definitely very deep. After I lost my father at a very young age, I always thought about this, I wondered if he had friends, or what they talked about, what they thought, what they liked... I wanted to ask. Since I was a child of a divorced family, I couldn't communicate very deeply when he was alive and first of all, I was young... sometimes thinking about how lonely he must have been darkens my soul. and no, no one is ready for death. even if you wait, even if everyone knows that death is coming.

"more than regular visitor to God's waiting room"
a perfect and intelligent quote, very powerful.
I read it over and over again and I loved your poem. You definitely have a lot to say

[Gee]

Thank you kindly for your kind words :)
I am actually the ugly mug male in the avatar, the two ladies being my wife and daughter.

[Beren]

oh i am so sorry! thank you for letting me know!

[Light and ashes]

I think, often times,
most often,

Death comes in as a stranger,
but leaves, a friend.

Maybe, that is something to take comfort in..

[Dylan Macadham]

It's like you wrote this about my Mother and me, and Dad.
... You've written it for thousands, millions I guess. Beautifully! :)

[Gee]

Thanks Dylan, appreciate you dropping in

[Chris Shaw]

It’s a week off three years since my own mum died in a nursing home. I often have thoughts about her empty room, probably occupied again soon after her departing. I miss her so much Gee but I am not sorry that she isn’t still in that room two hundred miles away. She spent six years there in her state of decline. That was a killer for all of us. She’s free. Your words touched me. I don’t wonder about friends made there. She didn’t make any. Would not leave her room. It became a prison. We will always miss our mums. A heartache we learn to live with.

Chris

[Gee]

I'm told it is a different kind of mourning that of a mum.
Never really knew my dad so will never know:))
Thanks Christine

[Lorry]

Well up until I read this Gee I thought it was only me that checked best before dates and cleaned the fridge for my wee mammy, because she forgot best before dates existed, as she told me one more time about when my Dad told her about when he was in hospital and tried cornflakes for the first time at the age of 66!
When asked if he liked them he replied "They were okay, but I didn't like that semi skilled milk they gave me them in!"
Evert time I saw that green lid in the milk aisle I'd laugh, but they've even done away with them too because clear lids are easier to recycle!
If she had her own way, I'd just fill the fridge with Kinder Bueno bars, just to be safe, because they never lasted long enough to go out of date!
One thing though that hasn't got a best before date is mourning though. That s**t never goes off!

[Gee]

Nope, the mourning is ever present even if deeper buried.
Thanks Lorry.
Hope all is well.
S**t news about Ken, hopefully he'll pull through with all faculties intact

[Lorry]

Yes. Thoughts are with him, but thankfully he is getting the help he needs, so bless the NHS too!read moreYes. Thoughts are with him, but thankfully he is getting the help he needs, so bless the NHS too!
All is well here, but buddy cold!
😃