Everyday, a poem
It would have been their 38th anniversary on October 19th. “That is always the hardest holiday - not Christmas, not a birthday, and not the day he passed away.”
They had been married 35 years and thought they’d be together for at least 70 years, but in 2021, he died of Covid. He had been a beloved football coach, and she, a supportive coach's wife, their lives revolved around sports and the family. He supported her career with The American Cancer Society, where she first got involved as a teenager when her beloved grandfather died of cancer.
She misses the phone calls with him after work, driving home, and sharing successes and challenges. Misses the hand she’d held every day - in church, walking down the street, driving in a car - gone. “I was at a crossroads about what to do with the rest of my life.”
Then came the opportunity to manage the new Hope Lodge. It would be a big change from her other position in the organization, but she felt drawn to the mission to provide free lodging for cancer patients. The work has turned out to be the blessing she needed as she moved through grief. In the prayer room, named after her husband, there is a place where all can go for peace and reflection. She recently realized she needed inner assertiveness to keep genuine peace, especially within herself. Words of art and faith also bring her peace.
She tells me how she keeps a journal and how reading is a place of comfort. She even writes poetry herself. Ultimately, this wish for peace is more like a prayer. Describing herself as a spiritual person, she asked God to bring peace in her life with her family and especially her friends.
Listener Poet Elizabeth Pringle
American Cancer Society
October 2024
Everyday
I miss you every day
But especially on the day
When we joined our hearts
Forever is forever
Timeless, ageless, whole
I said yes to you and yes
It will always be
As I feel your support
for me and more
for hope and home
for those who need to be
Held and cared for
As you cared for me
And there’s a room for you
My love
A sacred place
Welcoming all to sit
in the mystery
Of prayer and silence
And listen to the wonder
Of this life
And so I walk with you
Coaching those who help
And are helped
And feel this full circle
Of blessing holding my soul
Taking my hand
Keeping us always
Together everyday
