Appointments, Abandonment, and Other "A" Words
She was a young married woman
who had four babies and it
was the 1920's in Alabama.
Then there was to be a fifth
when there was no way to take care of
a fifth.
And so
the secret arrangements were made
and the appointment kept
And today in 2013
everyone who was there is now dead
but she died then because of what they did to her
So there were four little babies who
were to grow up without a mama,
and soon without a dad
One was my grandmother
who was seven when her mama died
and who felt abandoned
When she died almost eighty years later
with most of her memories gone
she was still an abandoned little girl
But before then she had my dad and there was
always something there between them that
is also between him and me...an absence
There are lots of angry arguments
that sound like
I'm right, you're wrong
And I have no answers
but there are a few things
that I know.
I know that medical decisions happen
everyday that mean one person lives
and one person dies.
There are even more political decisions
that mean one person lives
and another person dies.
And, it would have been nice for there to have been
some sort of happier ending to her
story.
But I don't ever think
I wish I could have known the person that may have been...
I do wish that I could have known my great-grandma.
heidi
written 4/13/13
I am still having some computer/internet hiccups. When everything sorts itself out, I will return comments and return visits. Thanks for being so understanding.
She was a young married woman
who had four babies and it
was the 1920's in Alabama.
Then there was to be a fifth
when there was no way to take care of
a fifth.
And so
the secret arrangements were made
and the appointment kept
And today in 2013
everyone who was there is now dead
but she died then because of what they did to her
So there were four little babies who
were to grow up without a mama,
and soon without a dad
One was my grandmother
who was seven when her mama died
and who felt abandoned
When she died almost eighty years later
with most of her memories gone
she was still an abandoned little girl
But before then she had my dad and there was
always something there between them that
is also between him and me...an absence
There are lots of angry arguments
that sound like
I'm right, you're wrong
And I have no answers
but there are a few things
that I know.
I know that medical decisions happen
everyday that mean one person lives
and one person dies.
There are even more political decisions
that mean one person lives
and another person dies.
And, it would have been nice for there to have been
some sort of happier ending to her
story.
But I don't ever think
I wish I could have known the person that may have been...
I do wish that I could have known my great-grandma.
heidi
written 4/13/13
I am still having some computer/internet hiccups. When everything sorts itself out, I will return comments and return visits. Thanks for being so understanding.
