Sunday, February 27, 2011

Final Gift - a note on my mom

And after all, perhaps the final
gift is tenderness.
The faith to love on the
edge of broken parts.
Faith...when all we have is
no clear end,
only the ache of uncertainty.
And still we
reach
towards the jagged edge that's
sure to cut and we bleed
our touch in a tender
offering of
hope,
despair, and maybe something
more we can't name,
but know in silent
moments.
Perhaps the final gift is not
blood...but our
ability to
bleed and bleed
some
more when all we wish for is
dried away and still we
bleed more.
Perhaps the final gift is
this, these blood
soaked tears....when it's all we
have to offer.


~
On a very raw day - I wrote this for my mother during her long battle with Alzheimer's. The amazing thing is that 7+ years with with this disease and she never stopped caring, she never stopped loving and she never stopped teaching. Her final gift to me was teaching me the art of patients and compassion. I was an imperfect student.
But I had the greatest teacher in the world.

I love you mom.

2 comments:

gratefulgrandma said...

A loving mother and teacher...A loving son and teacher.
Nothing teaches us quite so much as the transition of someone so dear to us does it Brother Eric?
Such hard lessons...
Such miraculous and precious lessons...
Imperfect, and on my part most definitely inadequate, but so grateful to have been chosen.
Sending love to you kind brother.
Grateful Grandma

A Headless Place said...

these words from you Sallie touch me deeply and have great meaning. Thank you.