Many Good Reasons To Cry Poem by Bill Galvin

Many Good Reasons To Cry

I know you have many good reasons to cry.
You have had ALS for two years now.
You've lost so much…
Ability to walk, ability to talk.
You need to learn things new,
To rely on someone else
To feed you, to brush your beautiful hair,
To bathe you, to clean your perfect teeth;
To carry you, to dress you,
To scratch your itch, to ease your pains;
To stretch your deformed limbs.

Of course you have many good reasons to cry.
It could be the pain in your body;
Or the anxiety of your spirit to believe your predicament.
It may be sadness that you are a burden to me,
When all your life long you were so independent.

I know you have many good reasons to cry.
Probably your frustration is from being unable to communicate,
Whether easily, readily, on cue, or spontaneously;
Or from being unable to participate in a conversation,
Respond to a secret whisper,
Contribute to friendly recollections…
Or call for help.
Helplessness;
Loss of control over much of everything…
Now there's a good reason to cry.

Where is the discomfort?
Should I move an arm; adjust a pillow;
Stretch a tightened tendon?
Are you hungry, thirsty? Is the food tasty?
Were you able to swallow okay?

There are so many good reasons to cry.
I love you enough to care for your needs,
To provide for your well-being.
It's all I can do to prove to you that our love will endure.
Remember the vows?
Richer/poorer; good and bad;
I laughingly added through thick and thin
And hell and high water.
It was true and real…
A wonderful life crafted from what was handed to us,
But built on such a solid foundation.
We always knew this day might come;
But surely not how bad it would be.
And now that it's here…
A very good reason to cry.

You certainly have many good reasons to cry.
But when you cry, as often as it is now,
My frustration is in figuring out why.

But… no one blames you at all. Not at all.

Jan 31,2015