Before You Are Alone!

I actually wrote this poem about my great-aunt "Tie".  She passed away at 99, never married. She was the proverbial old maid aunt.  As an old lady, she lived with our family. no one paid too much attention to her. She was the genealogist of the family. I actually used some of her research, when I did my own. I often thought, if I could just be able to ask her about her life and the stories she could tell.  I had so many unanswered questions. We always wait too long. Now I find this applies to me as well. This poem is now about me and any older person with stories to tell. don't wait until it is too late.

Sam

I sit quietly, patiently, out of the way,

Ready to answer the questions, that nobody asks.

You’re too busy to ask,

Please see me as a whole person, not just an old person.

Look deep behind my eyes,

Beyond the wrinkled and sagging and spotted face.

See a person who lived your life in another time.

Playing, going to school, falling in love, raising a family,

Wars and depression, turning points, hard times, glad times.

I am a resource to your life,

A living witness to a history of a time -- mine.

Please let me search my softer memory and tell you my stories.

Someday in the dark corner of the attic, you will turn to ask,

And you will be alone.

For now, I will sit quietly, patiently, out of the way,

Ready to answer the questions, that nobody asks.

Have a blessed day.

Sam