So many time in my years as a pastor I have seen a couple who have been married many years but are separated as one has to live in a nursing home. I've seen the dedication of the spouses in their daily visits to a person who might not recognize who they are. I don't like to write sad poems, but this is life.

He goes to visit her every day
At the rest home where she now has to stay.
He sits in a chair right beside her bed
And whenever she speaks he nods his head.
He helps the nurses feed her all the meals
No matter how uneasy he feels.
They watch the TV for hours on end
Though in her mind he’s now only a friend.
He looks at her and remembers the day
When they were classmates at recess play.
And his mind pictures and tries to enhance
when he asked her to the homecoming dance.
She looks his way with her eyes open wide
Just as he pictures when she was his bride.
His mind slowly moves at a leisured pace
As he sees each child’s likeness in her face.
Life would be simple if she wasn’t there
But that is a thought he just cannot bear.
So every morning he enters that door
Just like he has done so often before.
And ev’ry night as he prepares to leave
He kisses her brow and goes home to grieve