William Manchee

Novelist

A Note From Your Care Giver

 

I know how miserable you must be
Sitting there all day unable to move
It’s got to be depressing and with
What’s on TV, incredibly boring

At our wedding when I pledged
To you my life for better or for worse
I thought only of the love for you I felt
And the wonderful life that lie ahead

Nothing else then seemed remotely possible,
How could life with you be anything but bliss?
But I was naive, ignorant of life’s sad truth
That a happy life is dependant on good health

Your’s was taken away at age twenty-five
Yet you courageously stepped up
And somehow managed to raise our four children
With lots of love and remarkable skill

It was only when our baby left home
And I saw the relief in your eyes
That I realized how difficult it had been
And the fear you’d so quietly endured

Fear that you could no longer be a good mother,
And that your children would suffer because of it
Fear that they would no longer love you,
And that you’d not see them grow up

 

Once your motherly duties had been fulfilled
You began to inexplicably decline, slowly at first
But much more dramatically with time
Until, one day, you couldn’t even get out of bed

 

It shouldn’t have shocked me, I guess, but it did
I couldn’t believe you’d never walk again
The doctors seemed clueless, running test after test
But had no explanation for your sudden decline

  

So, now I’m your care giver and that’s okay,
Had our fates been reversed, you’d done the same for me
I just wish things had been better, it doesn’t seem fair
For someone so young to be confined to a chair

 

Although I know it hasn’t been the happiest of times,
I want you to know, I still love you and always will
And I’ll do all I can to make your life full,
For that’s the promise I made and one I will keep