He’s a great cook

But enter the kitchen

While his masterpieces

Are coming together

Is something you do

At your own risk!

I stay out…totally away

And if kitchen

Looks like a bomb exploded

I don’t eat what looks so good

For fear he thinks I’m

An explosive engineer and

Cleanup organization…

I retired long ago

And will head to Bueno Beef

For a grilled chicken

Sandwich rather than

Feel obligated to clean up the

Mess and all the grease

Like I always did in our

Youthful days…

Funny how living together

Through old age

Has turn the tables…

Gone a month…

Left to simmer on back burner

Never put first and foremost

Not even for the first hour home…

Life is important

Drowning in remnants of

Bits of time make for a sad life…

Someone else calls

Who gets the boot

One starts to feel unneeded,

Unwanted, in the way…

Other’s birthdays so important

This one not so much

The heart gets heavy

The heart slows down

Wondering who will go first

And will this one be missed…

The test today

Did not go well…

Because of my coughing

They had to stop

As my numbers

Plummeted and soared…

BP over 200

Oxygen 0

I think the tight strap around my

Necked that wasn’t explained

But just strapped around

By male nurse

Before proceeding

Elevated me into panic…

And my body went to flight

Or fight mode shutting down

My airway…

Sounds like the Jaw thrust

Had to be used for 4 minutes

To get an airway opened…

Explains welts on neck and

Swelling and pain as if dealing

With swollen glands…

Why this

Why now…

A question that

Never crosses her mind

Yet I’m the kind

That sees &

Hears

And wonders why…

There’s enough distruction

The world…

Why is bringing

It close to home

Now…

In your plan

I’m angry

I’m sad

Why Are you mad

With this corner of our

World

That inflicting pain

Worry and fear

Makes sense

To You

The ending

Is in my mind daily

Is that how one

Starts a book…

My book has been written

Right now contains 76

Chapters..:

With 77 on its way

As I stumble each hour

Of the day…

My legs are in pain

My sight has been fixed

But my mind wonders

Constantly to the end…

When will I go

On my own

Or God’s way…

I ponder this

Now

Everyday

Watching her

Wither away…

My mother said

The day you die

Is the happiest of days

Pain, worry and sadness

Are taken away..:

I pray for her daily

As I know her better

Than any that she’d

Never have chosen

This way…

Yet there she sits

On our camera

And in her mind

I can feel her words

Screaming; as would mine

Why God,

Why this way…

It saddens me

To see the mess that is made

Yet no view of clean up

In anyone’s sight but me…

My body is no longer

In the marathon of

Cleaning that used to drive

Me from morning til night

And after work

Well past midnight…

Those days are gone

No more to return

As the brain is weary

The muscles and bones

Degenerating with age

My future is dim

And going back

There’s no turn around lane

Forging forward

Is the only path

As the sun sinks

And my body

Begins to stink

With age….

Snow….makes me cry….

Never can forget that night…
He answered the phone
As I rocked our youngest

Seeing his face
With such sad eyes
Brought tears to mine….                            Not yet knowing…why

He held out the phone
And turned away
Knowing the words
My dad was about to say

Your mom just died….
We don’t know why
But she’s gone
You need to come home right away

She died on the floor
Beneath the Christmas tree
January 2…46 years ago

50 years 1/2/2022
Seems like a dream now… to me

She was tired when we left
After our family holiday
But never expected she would be
Gone the next day

She told me so much
In the two weeks before that day
Things she kept inside…                      Now feeling she just had to say

There will be she said…
A funeral soon… I’m seeing my parents here every night and day …              though long ago they passed away

Was she letting me know these were the last of her days
As I laid on her bed she kept
Talking away…
It was the 15th Christmas
In our house…..she designed

The drive home….
Just a flash in my thoughts
Even though we were eight or more hours away

We got there at five
Went to where she was laid
Never dreamed I would
Be seeing my mother this way

She was beautiful and calm
Perfectly placed…
With no movement… no words
No smile on her face…

Her makeup was perfect…                  Her hair just her way                            Her glasses sat like she just fell asleep On this couch after a long… hectic day

As this daughter approached                This beautiful box
Knelt down at her side
And cried on her cheek…                          That was blushed a pale pink
I am 23 years…you are 32 more
At such a young age
Why are we here in this place

Within 2 hours
Everyone…
She knew stood in line….for hours…    To see her just one more time

The morning
Before…
They closed her away
We kissed her and hugged her
And touched her once more
My tears fell
My heart quaked
I cried and called out to her…
Begging her to wake…

The funeral was beautiful
She wanted all White
The Mass of the Resurrection
Was her request
And her right

Putting her into the ground
I will never forget
She hated the cold
And it was freezing that day

Later that evening                                      I stood by her grave                                  A mound of brown dirt                          In a cemetery of hundreds        Blanketed with sparkling snow                Nothing was visible…she seem all alone

Six feet down
Under all the funeral flowers
Frozen in place
In below zero weather
Never more would I see
My beautiful mother

….Then I remembered
We forgot her warm coat

I think of that now…
And still cry
Everytime that it snows…

*jcs

 

 

 

Christmas time

Is a bit hectic

But now that age

Has set in

Kids are grown

This Santa’s helper

Has taken off her running shoes

Shut down her Christmas baking

And only shops

Through Amazon…

Cataract removal

Shots in the knees

And bi- weekly therapy

Has interrupted most

Of my days

The gallbladder removal

Earlier this year is

Still giving me some

Trouble with eating

And planning my day…

Thankfully our kids

Have a good hands on

And our family will be together

At Sue’s and Lynne’s

For Christmas…

Carpeting for the family room

Will be our gift to each

Other as 24 years of living

Have put some ripples in

This flooring although it

Still looks good…like this

Aging couple with a few

Wrinkles due to age!

Aging

Gives us torment

Especially at night…

3am your heart starts pounding

Waking you out of sleep…

You put your hand on you chest

You can feel it

echoing in your brain

Thinking of waking husband

Then realize…he’ll call

An ambulance…

If it’s a heart attack?

Will I come back from it

Better than I am now?

I doubt it

So why go to the hospital…

Say an act of contrition

And leave it in God’s hands…

Just go back to sleep

Counting the beats

Like God’s sheep…

How we coexist…

Is beyond me…

His idea of getting things

Together and done

Is to pull it all

Out…have it all over

Then decide to cook…

Wrapping paper and gifts

On table

Computer

Pie crust dough and cans

Of cranberries on counter

I can’t exist in this chaos…

If I straighten up

He’s behind me starting

Something new…

Now watching EKU on his

Phone….

Just another day

And we’ll

Be away

As I stay, he’ll

Be with his mom for a

Few days

I return SOLO.,..

Yeah!!!

Adopted

Children of God

Through Baptism and

Belief in Jesus Christ…

Since God made Adam and Eve

The first children of God

And we are the offspring

Adoption seems out of the question to me…

Granted that the Jews

Were the chosen

We were still from

The One…

I know it’s splitting words

But…

It seems like a new teaching

To enable belief….

Fingernails

Are an obsession with me…

For 30 while working I got

Acrylics every 3 weeks with

Fill ins now and then…

I loved them and they kept my

The nails

From being eaten up by the

Threads that used to cut my nails

To the cuticles daily…

Fashion design was my calling

And sewing was the vehicle

To design…

After retirement I decided to

To give up the expensive habit

And start using Kiss nail

Press ons…

Very happy with them…

Inexpensive

Less time consuming

And their addition to my

Grooming gets me many

Compliments…

What more can I ask for??

Cleaning today

Sweeper run

Yet everywhere there are crumbs

As my other half keeps eating…

I chew Ice

He talks

Both of these habits drive

Us crazy

So compromise

He talks…I chew…

Easy for me as football

Is on this Saturday and

He can’t stop talking at

The coach on the TV…

Chew chew chew chew…

Lucky for me I bought

A counter ice machine

That makes soft ice

That doesn’t crack my teeth

Or give me brain freeze

But still drives my retired groom

Nuts…..

At our age

We have to keep doing things

That makes us aware of each

Other…

Opposites attract…

But their minds are

Wired completely different…

One’s lefthanded

One’s right handed…

I say I sent it by email

He goes to messages…

He says right I turn left…

I say righty tighty

Lefty loosie

He looks at me bewildered…

Aging is just making it more

Intense…

He just stares in bewilderment

At everything

I say…

Love will keep us together

Because communication

And understanding

Are starting to become a

Foreign language to us…

Him from one country

Me from another…

Boundries

Are something at this

Age I don’t think

Others realize they trespass!

I’ve been easy going most

Of my life trying to

But my now my toes are stepped on daily

From chewing ice, how much

Ice cream I eat, how late I sleep,

How much I read, how early I go

To bed and so on…

I’m not going on another trip

To sit through a presentation

Sit at a fishing stream, travel to

Late, listen to phone conversation or CNN

Through the car audio…

Been there done that

Make all feel happy and safe…

Not doing it again…

A-lot like pregnancy…

Enjoyed it a few times but

When it’s over…ITS OVER!!!

On hold

Our life is on hold

And has been for some time…

His time is filled with

Silent phone calls daily

Just watching his mom

Deteriorate in place…

He wants so much more for

Her…I understand but at 96

Her body is spent…

Our bodies and minds are

Being spent worrying about

Her…

What a way to age!!

My parens left long ago and

The feelings are all spiritual now..

What they think or would do

Have little help in my life and

Mind as their days are gone

Over 50 years and the

Gap of time feels like the

Cavernous area of the grand

Canyon…that I can’t really

Understand or feel…

Life is for the living I know

Understand and see…

Aging stops the living, begins

The grieving of having to be

Satisfied with the life one has

Led…

In my living room

A quiet get away

From the noise

Of the football games

And constant cooking

And eating in the kitchen…

I miss the kitchen of my

Childhood homes

They were walk through

Eat in kitchens

But closed off from he rest

Of the house..:

The first house on B street

Was very large, eat in

With a country table

I remember the original

Ice box containing a large

Block of ice…

We didn’t freeze things

But it kept our daily needs

Cold…

We had food delivered

Or ran to the store as needed..

We had a restaurant swinging kitchen

Door from the kitchen

Into the dining room…

Loved that door…

While eating in the dining

Room you never saw the

Prep work in the kitchen…

Grandmas house was the same

Way…

Although when they remoldeled

I think they removed the door..

Doors that swung both ways

Could cause many accidents..:

But to me open floor plans

Give little solitude in a house

And break down meal time

As the kitchen is always opened…

Leading to constant eating,

Bingeing hi and mess…

My second house was similar

With a sliding door between the

Kitchen and dining room…

After years of not giving much

Thought to house layout I

Definitely have an opinion today

Although doubt at this age if

It will matter…

But my living room is my

Go to today on the cold, rain filled

And gloomy day…

I can see the neighborhood

Outside, a see leaves changing

Colors, squirrels running around

Collecting and storing food…

It’s a place to chew my ice a

Bad habit that has appeared

Again as I’m suffering from

Anemia…

And no one yelling at me to stop

Chewing…

I meditate, think and quietly talk

To MD&B in my mind praying

They are where I believe God

Cares for them as our faith

Teaches…

I trying to pray for those who

Have offended as God teaches

He is the judge…

I wonder why I’m told

Where we need to go but

Never asked where I would like

To be and see…

Therefore my needs I realize

Are a priority only to me

And therefore find no need to

Plan or go as others determine…

Hubby

Cooks all day long

Uses every dish in the cupboards

Can never use the same glass

The same knife

Or the same spoon for stirring…

Me… I eat one meal a day

And it is usually fast food

So this morning when he started

Making stuffed peppers

Which I can not eat

He asked if I could empty the

Dishwasher…

I just laughed and went

On reading my book…

His passions require too much

Clean up…

And will never find me

By his side…

Retirement has its benefits…

Realizing everyone can

Do their own thing

Love keeps us together

But not hand in hand…

Mental acuity…

Connecting the dots-

Realizing the consequences

Of one’s actions and words –

Not realizing doing it the same

Way and not getting the right

Result must lead to a different

Method –

The decline is noticible

The frustration is noticible

The aging is showing signs

Of decline in both he and I –

He’s not handling it well nor

Am I…..

Sugar plums

Dancing in his mind

And Christmas isn’t even nigh

But tonight

Thinking of me brings

Happy thought to his mind…

Early and younger years

Come in when we are apart

The thoughts that

Melted our hearts

When school and work

Kept us apart…

Now the needs of an elder

A love of early days

That let you wonder

Cries for you back again

I can only wait til the

Need is fulfilled

And the trip back home

Is part of the drill

To complete the needs

Of the other one waiting…

He…

Came to visit in my

Dream last night…

As daylight broke

My face was smiling

From cheek to cheek…

Jumping out of bed

I was about 3

He stood by the sink

With the cup and brush

In hand… this early morning

Was our routine…

He taught me how to make

His shaving cream with soap

In the cup a bit of water

And the twirling of the brush…

I was his honey bunch he was

My grandpa…

I love this time with him…

No one else was stiring

He left for work by 4am

After tucking me back in bed…

Today will be a good day

After spending this time

With him…

Only a dream

But oh so real

Wonder why he came

To me last night…

Yep, I’ll be searching Amazon

For that brush, soap and cup…

Why…why not

It will be a treasure to keep

Him near….

My heart is full…

Of Joy

Tonight…

Our past presidents

And their 1st Ladies

Have beautiful minds

Echoed in their words…

COVID and an ignorant

And self-center president

Almost brought our

Great Nation to a halt

By following dictators

Who care very little about

Their fellow man…

Tonight our sprits have been

Raised…

With the breathe of God’s Joy

Again instilled in our hearts

And minds

Pushing us to build on this

Experiment…

And foundation of our

Forefather’s

Democracy

Higher and stronger

Forward American’s…

We’re not Going Back…



			

Chords…

The big discourse

This week…

He hates that I don’t

Wrap the chord the

Neat way it shows how to…

The neat way is for people

Who have too much

Time on their hands…

Like MRG…

On the other hand

Every time I use the sweeper

I see more electrical tape…

Wrapped around the chord

Where he must have run it

Up in the sweeper…

Then there is the fact that

I have bought 2 outside

Extension chords for

Our hedge trimer because

He chewed through 2

But now the new ones are in the

Trash…

And outside electrical outlets

Are blown….

Some how the way I wrap

The chord to put away

Is moot in my eyes…

One of his

Girls calls..

Off he flies

With carrots, celery and

A garlic…

She’s making something

And is out of the trinity

So her Super dad to the rescue…

He also has potato salad and a

Sausage sandwich in hand…

And of course he’ll get a piece

Of her Black Forest Cake….

My 2 chefs meeting and

collaborating today…

Has she planned this

To give me alone time…Hmmm

Mulching his triangle..

He’s been working on this when ever he can… Mentioning black mulch…out he ran to Home Depot for 19 bags of mulch!

I didn’t realize my input meant so much but it’s now covered in black mulch and I love it…

He does work to please even though he grumbles at times!

I wish I had his energy, I can’t blame age as he’s only 2weeks older!

My mouth…

Is hard to keep closed

When I get angry

Words escape that even

I hate to hear…

My buttons get pushed

And my words ignite

The anger as the buttons

Seems to always be set

On high…

My pilot light is always

Flickering…it’s what keeps

Me alive..why anyone

Would want to push it

To high and ignites the heat…

I wish I could deride

Before the flash and burn

Of ugly language erupts…

Putting it off…

Why when I feel awful

I try to set up the test

My Dr. wants…

And can never get it done

Due to the over load

Of the hospital…

Today of course I feel

Great and wonder if

I really need to schedule it…

Of course I know

Tomorrow could be

A painful day and

Wish I had the test done…

Aging sucks

Trying to enjoy the good days

But know the bad days are

Coming…

Things…

Are taken for granted

Until they stop

Working…

Then the disruption

It causes your life

Is quite irritating…

Having a service

Person in your house

Having to find another

Place to keep foods

Cold and frozen

And not have icecubes

For your ice tea

Can really throw your days…

Thankfully we have a great

and a very

Kind, interesting and well

Educated repair man…

So the inconvenience has

Given us an education…

When he was asked by

His sister who lives in a different

country about Trump

Being elected last time

He said No, that wouldn’t

Happen…America doesn’t

Have that many stupid

People…obviously, he said

he was wrong…

I just hope they have wised

Up for this election…

Well said…

Hope the American people

Learned…

But I’m doubtful

As I know an awful

Lot of Jackasses…

Days

There are days

I don’t know you

And wonder how it

Can be

Then I realize how many

Days you’re now

Away from me…

There are buddies

There are family

There are people

I don’t know

They all have some

Influence

While I’m here

Waiting

All alone…

Your vocabulary

Has words that

Aren’t your own

And our life has

Definitely taken on a

Different tone

I thought retirement

Was to be…

Ours alone…

Truly Baffled

Trump

Lies

Impeached

Twice

Felon

34 charges

Republicans

Backing

The worst

Guy

Alive

A conman

Sham

Snake-oil salesman

He Shamed men

Who still back him

Does power

Mean more

Than their integrity…

How can their

Families not intercede

Maybe the upside

Down flag

Of Alido was

His wife’s sign

For help…

Who gives up

Their soul for power…

Obiously

Thomas

Alido

Jordan

Republicon’s

Who are also conning

Their followers…

Can our Military

Men and women

Back a man who

Calls them suckers

And losers….

I’m not judging

But their are many

People I don’t want

To be standing by

When the final

Trumpets sound…

When??

Do you call it

Stop it

See it

And take a stand

Or walk away…

My answer

As soon as you can

Especially when

One realizes

They live by a different

Compass

Morals

Guidelines

Or live under another control…

The shorter

The life… ones glasses

Magnify to a slimmer

View…

No longer able

To look at the whole

Picture

But concentrate

On the pasts pertaining

To you

Realizing the specks of

Mortar are failing

And not being adressed

And fixed…

One can only repair

What is self owned

Or those asking

For help…

Cooking and

Eating

Constantly…

Leaving dishes in the sink

And stuff on the counters

Now wanting to make

Potato Salad…

Saying he has lots to do

But not in the mood

To clean up dishes and kitchen…

I’m not falling for that…

Not my mess

When he cleans up his mess

And is interested in something

Other than the kitchen

I will come in and clean

And scrub

Knowing the mess will

Begin when everything shines

And I won’t touch anything

Till my once a day cleaning

Begins tomorrow

When his attention is off

Food…

Reset

To our life after

10 days back at home…

We both get used to

Being alone except

He’s with his mom…

And I’m alone

Dealing with our life,

Home and bills

And he’s keeping his

Mom company in her

Nursing home…

So reseting to constant

Talking, questions

, different

TV perferences

Different eating times and

Tastes cause some raised

Voices, impatient answers

And moving to different

Rooms to get our space back

That for 10 day increments

Were ours alone…

The only good I see out of

This 10 year living situation

Is it is preparing us for

Being alone as one of us passes…

I’m praying we both

Outlive his mom so we

Have some retirement

Time together before our

Memories don’t…

Remember each other…