h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Oh Evangeline!

Even without knowing the background, this brought tears to my eyes. It will make every reader remember someone of their own and wish they'd said something that they never got around to.

My Mother; never a demonstrative lady was getting towards the end - still lively enough; but I made a point on every visit, of telling her I loved her and mentioning lots of things she had done for me, because I knew instinctively that I would live to regret something I hadn't said when it was too late.

Your words are the most moving that I have read in a very long time.

Scorpio

Thank you, very much.

I'm sure your mother enjoyed sharing memories with you and hearing your appreciation. That was a wonderful thing to do for her. It must have been difficult for you fighting the sadness that goes along with watching a parent being ill and weakening.

Having lost a few people, in sudden and unexpected ways, I try not to leave things unsaid with people I am close to.

I prefer not to explain a poem before someone has read it because part of the reward/enjoyment of reading poetry is finding something with which you identify. This poem is about a first cousin that was very popular, which could have been due to his wicked sense of humor. He was only 18 when he died in a motorcycle crash. I had just seen him about a month before that and he was so full of plans about what to do since he was about to finish school. That was 1984. It still seems like he *should* be there at every family gathering.