She sits and waits now,
Though it wasn’t long ago that she led a carefree life.
She used to go to the movies and out to eat,
But now she visits doctors and hospitals,
And has become quite the expert in medication side effects and disease.
Waiting on her mother and for her mother,
She is the family caregiver.
Depression lingers ever near, anger wells up inside,
But most of all she experiences isolation from a world she once knew.
Oh, it’s the right thing to do and she does it diligently and well,
But a part of her is dying too, dying too young.
Life looks different now.
The light inside is but a glimmer, vitality is waning,
And a deep sadness keeps her company.
She needs help, a break, just someone to understand.
Oh God, send her hope!
Visit today in the form of a neighbor or perhaps the rare service worker,
Who actually stops to share her pain, to listen, to risk.
Oh God, give her the blessing of the moment.
Open her eyes to her mother, to the precious, present moment.
May peace replace sadness, true joy infuse her from the depths of her being.
She is the family caregiver and she needs help.
How easy it is to forget, the shared experience of caregiving.
How simple to look at her and miss the moment altogether.
Make me an instrument of your peace on this day
To bring hope, life, and peace into an isolated existence.
Use me, Lord, use me.
To bring care to the family caregiver.
Amen
Worth Repeating
Mourning is grief gone public.
-Bob Willis
