Patty, I Love You

I saw you,
Eyes full of every sorrow
And all love,
Looking 'round the room.
That day you bravely faced a future
Rife with menace
And potential doom.

Marching into frigid and frightening night,
Your shoulders straight and sure,
Giving all for the hope of life
And though spent,
Your love was pure.

Your two children now have beds
In a world bereft of your loving arms.
Your guidance and your faith
Gone; strange silence in their stead.

The strength and hope of your heart
The sure love shining from your face
Will beacon all of us to Heaven
When we each have run our race.

My sweet and gentle sister,
Though gone before yet never truly dead,
Find me when it is my time,
When I must face such fears,
Must yield such hopes,
Must rest another sad and weary head
Upon the bosom of this earth,
Cradle of both fear and birth.


Patty is still with us, but not likely for very long - tomorrow being a day of decision, one we have longed to never have to face. She is beautiful, serene, and remote. Far from us yet a permanent part of our forever. My sweet sister; light of a compassion and forgiveness I feel I only meagerly understand. She rests and cannot speak but may still be able to hear us as we try to express our love, the very genuine joy and humor she brought us, and the grief we cannot reign in at the thought of losing her love and her presence in the inexorably increasing penury of our lives.