By Rosie Preston
During this time of experiencing so many emotions that seem to be left to chance, I cannot help but associate them with the pandemic as it follows its own path.
My connection to the outside world has been to speak on the phone with several friends and family members. We agree that it is a blessing, as we are attached by friendship. The other day, I had spoken with my sister who lives in Alaska. She asked if I was having a hard time with our mother’s situation because I have been the daughter who was not working and therefore was able to visit a lot.
My answer was trying to explain the detachment I feel because I can’t see my mother. I told my sister that I‘ve accepted this fact that I can’t see our mother because she resides at a local nursing home. I feel detached, and every day I imagine something we did that may have been fun. Once, when I was living with my mom and dad for a few weeks while I was getting a cottage ready to live in, she and I started watching old movies.
We would laugh and sometimes cry. It was a great time of bonding for us. We also would call my sister Luann on the phone, and soon the three of us would be laughing so hard that tears were running from our eyes!
Mom wrote many poems. Here is another one I would like to share with you.
What is love, I asked
And the answer is simple, just a word of kindness, I want you in my life.
But I feel it’s so much more, it’s caring and harmony, sharing, and being
happy to sit quietly together. Sometimes no words needed and then again,
a time for conversation, to communicate, to feel and to bond, to know
we are friends and then listen to each other’s different worlds. So, our lives entwine,
so alike, but, so different, as our days are spent with you working outside the home,
while I stay at home and take care of it and our children.
We long for the caring of people, yet, we’re too selfish to admit the need.
Oh, how it would be if adults could be as honest as little children. We laugh and cry at the same things. But, the need we hide, the most important moments we
keep stored somewhere deep inside, as we alone know ourselves. Life is simple,
but we make it complicated. God, help us to understand before we are old.
By Shirley Preston
The detachment I wrote about is the complete opposite of the poem my mother penned, which describes attachment to someone she loves.
So, it is good to know that we can remind ourselves to fight the feelings of detachment by remembering the good times and to take steps with the ones you do love and find ways to keep our attachments to them each day!
Keep Smiling, Rosie
The journaling book is in progress, so send your stories to rosie.preston@yahoo.com.