Redemption Poem by John F. McCullagh

He thought that he would die alone
when he entered hospice care.
Folks wind up in Calvary
who haven’t got a prayer.

Long estranged from his first wife
And the two children that she bore him.
He only sought a refuge
from pain and death before him.

The nurse on duty saw his name
And hope combined with fear.
Could this be her father that was lost?
Could fate have brought him here?

She asked the patient if he had
some family about.
He mentioned his two daughters’ names
“-but they must be grown up now.”

“I’m Wanda, I’m your daughter.”
She said, choking back her tears.
He begged for her forgiveness
For being gone for all those years.

Of course he’d missed her wedding day
and never held her child.
He’d missed so many Father’s Days.
Still, she made him proud.

Perhaps it was a twist of fate
Perhaps the Angels’ plan
That when this man had breathed his last
He held his daughter’s hand.
.



The story of the reunion of Wanda Rodriquez, hospice nurse with her estranged father, Victor Peraza, at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx.