NEVER GIVE UP PAYS OFF, YET AGAIN!

Rather than

Asking you to

Scroll in reverse

You shall see

The photo (promised

Several posts back)

Published below today’s

Insight-driven intuitive

Train of thought

This photo was taken

At my nephew Matt’s wedding

 9 years ago

And as Mom had

Danced the light fantastic

During her

100th birthday party

And as she’s been

On high with

My dad for these

Past 8 years

Mom was 99 in

This photo

And I, being

30 years younger

Was 69

Though this snapshot of

A moment in time when

Mom’s mind and mine felt

Utterly bewildered

Concerning

Painful changes in

Our (enmeshed)

Relationship

You and I can

Clearly see

A mother and daughter

Whose love for each other

Ran every bit

As deep as

The chasm that

Had opened

Between us based in

The classic nature of

This sad fact:

Two years after

My beloved dad had passed

Mom’s basic needs

And mine

Had polarized

Causing

Both spirits to cry

Mom’s spirit cried

Because of loneliness

Mine because I could not

Continue to keep

My kind-hearted mother

Company—every day

“Mom, I have

A husband at home

And I need to

Reconnect with

The land of

The living.”

“Well—I can’t!”

Eventually

Over the next five years

Both of our minds

Continued to whorl

Round and round within

A mutually tension-filled

Palpable sense of

Disbelieving discontent until

My spirit (and Mom’s) had

Exhausted—completely

Based in three reasons

Each to be

Detailed in

A heart-wrenching story that

Will unfold

Down the road

In which

We’ll witness

Mom, at 95

(Seven years

After Dad’s death)

Moving into

A one bedroom

Apartment (her

Living room’s

Picture window

Overlooking

A lovely park with

Weeping willow trees

Encircling

The calm waters of

A peaceful lake)

Mom’s new abode was in

A senior residence

Near my sister

In the Midwest, and  

Once I could travel

I’d flown 

(Every six weeks) from

My home (nestled within

The foothills of

The southwestern desert) to

Mom’s side until

With the passage of

5 additional years

The day dawned when

I’d held my mother’s

Frail body as

Tenderly in

My arms, her head

Resting on my shoulder

As had become

 Customary for us

In the aftermath of

Dad’s death

And when I asked

My precious

100 year old mother—

“Mom, can you feel my love?”

Thank goodness, Mom—lifting

Her head so that

Her eyes connected ever so

Lovingly with mine—replied

(For the first time in years)

“Yes, Annie, I feel your love.” 

And as our spirits smiled

At each other with contentment

At long last

My Dad’s spirit, always

Hovering close by

Gathered his sweetheart’s

Spirit within

His loving embrace, and as

My beloved parents

Melted into each other

Years of tension

Humming ever so

Sadly between

Mom’s needs and mine

Evaporated

Freeing all of

The air in the room to

Fill with

Fluffy white clouds of

Love, easily inhaled and

Peacefully exhaled

As though a miracle had

Spontaneously

Broken an evil spell

And magically—

(I believe in

The mysticism of intuition)

Here was Mom’s just reward and

Mine for having

Maintained our faith in

The power of

Our love for each other

Winning against all odds:

All was well that had ended well

At the end of Mom’s earthly life

Though, personally

I’d still had

Quite a bit of

Detective work

Ahead of me

Concerning

Haunting sensations of

Undeserved guilt

In need of being

Relieved before

My connection to

Peace of mind

Had felt

Securely

Recovered from

Unresolved

Childhood trauma, which—

Viva L’ EMDR therapy

Had en-couraged

My intelligence to

Piece together

A detailed picture of

Why I’d been astutely

Diagnosed with

PTSD

After which

The course of

My therapy took

A turn for the better as

Insight-laden trains of

Intuitive thought, filtering from

Within subconscious storage into

The readied receptacle of

The conscious portion of

My thought processor

Continued to embrace

Aha! Moments that

Changed my self image for the better

Little by little

Over time

And that is good because

Change is the only

Constant in life

Which is why

Our relationships with

All others and

Our relationship with

Oneself

Will always be in

Some state of flux

(And thus do

Our wedding vows

Declare

“For better or worse”)

So—if, over

Your lifetime

You’ve been

So fortunate as to have

Experienced moments of

Pure bliss then you, like

Mom, Dad and me

Have been blessed with

The best that

Life has to offer

and what, I ask

Could feel better than embracing

An outlook as positively focused

As that!  L’Chaim! To life!

Hmmm—Where did that fiddler get off to?

He just missed his cue!

Oh wait!  I get it!

His were the footsteps I’d  heard on the roof

Sunrise!  Sunset!

Here one minute

Gone the next

Like it or not

That’s the circle of life

Hakuna Matata, Mama