And Then We Fell in Love . . .

Home > Stages of Life > Facing the End of Life Together

By Patti Paul, reprinted with permission

Patti Paul, whose husband Richard died in 1998, has written two poems we are pleased to present on Learning Place Online. This one is about the final days and hours of life when a caregiver realizes she is sitting by a man who is dying because she once fell in love with him and there is no other place for her to be except at his side. The other, And So We Gathered, expresses the strength found in a bereavement group.

And Then We Fell in Love . . .

I sat beside the hospital bed

there in our family room

watching you breathe

feeling small

feeling inept

so alone

watching you die

my heart breaking

my tears flowing

my soul aching

dead to the outside world

this is the last place I ever wanted to be

I said "remember when we met - working in the hospital..

and then you asked me out.. and we went to dinner..

and then to Disneyland... and to the concerts.."

and you said "and then we fell in love."

YES, and that's why I am here...

"and then we fell in love."

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