jay_moose

about 15 minutes ago, me and dad were discussing hospice. He wondered why they were giving Mima oxygen if they weren't supposed to do anything to keep the person alive. I told him it wasn't so much about oxygen, but about comfort...making breathing easier.

Grandma called my cell about 10 minutes ago, which was weird.

Phone rang once, then picked up as a missed call.

Grandma called the house about 5 minutes ago.

Dad came in my room 30 seconds later

Mima passed away.

Strength is not a characteristic, but the embodiment of a whole

It is not the power within the limbs, but the life within the soul

It is the light in the eye, the warmth of a smile

The laughter that makes every visit worthwhile

I know a woman who is strength in essence

Strength as a being with a solitary presence

Selfless as they come, praises never feel the same

Until the day she took my hand and said ‘great-niece’ was just a name

That I am a niece as any other, stroking my hand as though I might shatter

And I listened with reverence, and gazed at the action that I should be giving her

I may not be wholly religious, a cynical view the best I could achieve

But this woman of beauty, soul, and strength has opened a door and made me believe.

Last Poem written for Mima...she read it a few weeks ago.