I sit by the window
A breeze blowing through
I search the doorway hoping
For just a glimpse of you
The nurses, they are nice
The food here is ok
I just couldn't tell you
I didn't want to stay
I know when your Daddy passed on
There was no room for me
You have your own life
With your own family
I sit here with my memories
From sun up to sundown
I have learned that silence
Can be a deadly sound
I miss the sound of laughter
As you used to run and play
I miss the antics of your father
All the things he'd do and say
I miss the joy of having a home
A place to lay my head
I miss the peace and contentment
After all the prayers were said
All those years of dedication
To my home and family
Now I just sit here and wait
Darkness is so lonely
So many nameless faces
They all come and go
As the clock on my dresser
It always moves so slow
I know you are busy
With your job and home
But try to visit me more often
I feel so alone
Memories can't take the place
Of a gentle hug or touch
The world rushes on around me
While I'm missing you so much
I worked in a nursing home for eight years.
I seen firsthand the loneliness they feel
when families and friends don't visit. Bring
a book, read to them, bring a favorite
desert , but most of all....bring YOURSELF.
They still need you........
What a great write, and a great message within. Our school system still gets our students envolved in the adopt a grandparent program with our local nursing home. It's a great program, both my children participated...I can still recall the joy that those wonderful elderly people expressed when we came to visit. A touching program that more schools should get involved with. Wonderful write my friend!
Blessings,
Joyce Bowling
we live in an age when the aged are discarded and forgotten ... your poem is an excellent reminder to always keep them in mind ...
Reviewed by Todd-Michael St. Pierre (Reader)
Reviewed on April 17, 2007
Hey, Linda excellent poem! I also worked in a nursing home in the early 90s and wittnessed some awful stuff. I wrote about it in my poem "Nursing Home Eyes" posted here at the Den! http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewpoetry.asp?AuthorID=49&id=173766
It is very sad when good people get left behind. Why are they ignored? This is a time when help is needed the most. Sometimes nursing homes are used as a dump station, sad, very sad.
Linda, my dear, you have penned such a powerful write.
So many of us know how true your words are, yet we "glaze" over and move on, absorbed in our own busyness.
Yet the day may come when we find ourselves sitting in the same chair and watching the same empty doorway.
I must tell you this: My son is a member of the "visitation" band of the San Diego Chargers Football Club. They're in off-season right now. So what do they do? They visit homes filled with the disabled and elderly and present life-giving musical concerts. And, O, you should see the faces of the "patients" light up with joy, their feet tapping to the music, their hands clapping with happiness. My God, what a blessing they are! And so much appreciated.
Some way, friends, we each need to find an hour to visit, to just say hello to a fellow human being. The need is enormous. And, O, you'll be so glad you did, you'll feel compelled to do it again and again.
Consider yourself an angel of God. The patients do. They need you.
Linda, thank you for sharing this touching message. You did good,
girl friend!
We should learn from other "lesser" cultures and not park our elders in corridors to wait their turn at the exit.
The most terrible thing man can do to his own kin is to abandon them in a cold blooded solitude.
They shot horses...don't they?
Georg
So much sad truth in this write. My mother in law is in a nursing home and my wife visits with her five out of seven days a week and only stays away the other two nights because one other sister visits. That sounds good except there are eight children in her family all living in the immediate area...that is sad.
Wonderful yet sad reminder of what many elderly people feel, particularly when in assisted care centers or nursing homes; too bad that their families often forget them after they place them in these environs. Sad, sad, sad. We must learn to treat our elderly people with respect; one day we are going to get old ourselves. Who is going to care for us when we can no longer take care of ourselves or work? Something to think about! Very well done, Linda; brava!
(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tx., Karen Lynn. :( >tears! <
Reviewed by Laura Mayer (Reader)
Reviewed on April 16, 2007
Linda
I too work with the elderly and have seen first hand how terribly lonely they are, how helpless they feel. They still have the need (like we do) to belong and feel useful, it's just that their bodies don't co-operate. It is amazing how one simple smile, a touch of the hand, and yes, a sit-down talk (even for a few minutes) will do wonders for their lonely souls.
Super write Linda!!
Hugs,
Laura
A disturbing reflection on our society.
Sadly a majority
Then maybe this poem can prick the hearts of some.
Be worth it even if there was only one.
Very well written and done.
DWB
Let this coming of age story of a boy named Bean take you back to a simple time. Set in a small southern town in the 1960's, encircled by a river and gleaming white cotton fields.
Let this coming of age story of a boy named Bean take you back to a simple time. Set in a small southern town in the 1960's, encircled by a river and gleaming white cotton fields.
Share
Print
Save
Follow
Blessings,
Joyce Bowling
Be safe,
Karen
So many of us know how true your words are, yet we "glaze" over and move on, absorbed in our own busyness.
Yet the day may come when we find ourselves sitting in the same chair and watching the same empty doorway.
I must tell you this: My son is a member of the "visitation" band of the San Diego Chargers Football Club. They're in off-season right now. So what do they do? They visit homes filled with the disabled and elderly and present life-giving musical concerts. And, O, you should see the faces of the "patients" light up with joy, their feet tapping to the music, their hands clapping with happiness. My God, what a blessing they are! And so much appreciated.
Some way, friends, we each need to find an hour to visit, to just say hello to a fellow human being. The need is enormous. And, O, you'll be so glad you did, you'll feel compelled to do it again and again.
Consider yourself an angel of God. The patients do. They need you.
Linda, thank you for sharing this touching message. You did good,
girl friend!
Richard
Another Compassionate Write...
Your True Friend, TRASK
The most terrible thing man can do to his own kin is to abandon them in a cold blooded solitude.
They shot horses...don't they?
Georg
Love Tinka
Fee
(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tx., Karen Lynn. :( >tears! <
I too work with the elderly and have seen first hand how terribly lonely they are, how helpless they feel. They still have the need (like we do) to belong and feel useful, it's just that their bodies don't co-operate. It is amazing how one simple smile, a touch of the hand, and yes, a sit-down talk (even for a few minutes) will do wonders for their lonely souls.
Super write Linda!!
Hugs,
Laura
Sadly a majority
Then maybe this poem can prick the hearts of some.
Be worth it even if there was only one.
Very well written and done.
DWB
All dressed up, with no place to go, no visitors to brighten the dark door of loneliness...oh, you've penned a powerful one today, Linda. Well done!
(((HUGS))) and love, Karla. :(
a book, read to them, bring a favorite
desert , but most of all....bring YOURSELF.
They still need you........
They surely do, and any visit by friends and family brings them so much joy.
Another extremely heartfelt and much needed message, Linda.