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

At another website, I was challenged to write a poem about cellar doors (it's based on a line from the film "Donnie Darko"), and I worked it into an account of my family's tour of assisted-living facilities yesterday. My mother has been falling down a lot lately, and my father can't care for her when she becomes too feeble to get around.

So here's the poem, which is largely based on facts, though I'be taken some poetic license to make it flow:]

She fell again last Thursday
Shopping at the Dollar Store
(No broken bones, but hip and shoulder
Bruised and very sore).

It's Sunday. Dad and Sis and I
All tour facilities;
Assisted-living, nursing homes;
Buy-ins, and monthly fees.

We have to guess which Mom would like.
She's getting frail of late.
We don't like to uproot her,
But our options are not great.

The family home must soon be sold,
Possessions by the score.
A life of memories await
Behind the cellar door.

The rusty hinges rasp;
We peel the heavy bulkhead back.
The toads and crickets scatter,
Then the cobwebs we attack.

The cellar door is grumpy.
First its lock will not respond.
At last we get it open,
And survey what lies beyond:

A decade's worth of canned goods;
A Victorian upright,
Its ivory keys half missing,
Crates of clothing huddled tight,

Stacks of 1960s magazines,
Some wood and tools and nails,
Rusty water stains around the pump,
And lots of dusty pails.

We'll likely fill a dumpster.
Still it's sad this time will come.
Do cellar doors have feelings?
It just sits there looking numb.

i'm torn between feeling and thinking this was very wisely worded

I'm as numb as the cellar door at times lately.

Thanks for sharing that. There are sad transitions. This is one.

I'm with Pierce on this one, it struck a chord with me.

DearPaul H.



'Tis a very sensitive poem.

I was also falling until I read on wiki that the particular painkillers that I was taking made one lose one's balance.

Just a suggestion, However, I stopped taking them immediately and not only do I not fall but my pain, because of my lovely hot bath every morning makes the pain not only bearable but really disappear. also of course I am in a wheelchair which gives all my horrid joints the rest which they need.

Hope you can help her to cope with age and with the very disagreeable result which can possibly come from the tablets which one is given. It comes to all of us sadly.

Kind regards

Christiane.
AlsoRan80 nearly 81

Well done, good poem etc. seem beside the point somehow, Paul. I hope you find a good home you can afford for your mum, and that she can be happy there. Choose wisely, for the most expensive home is not necessarily the best.

Jabs

A wonderfully written poem, so true.

It's strange how in our teens and 20's we carelessly think ourselves invincible, with our parents always there as a sagacious bedrock of support.

Life is for living, but well.

That was v close to the bone - nice poem in view of a difficult situation.

I wish you & your family the best

My mother's falling episode was nine weeks ago. She has spent the weeks working with a physical therapist, and she feels that this has helped a lot. A few weeks ago, I took both parents back up for a more in-depth tour of one of the facilities. They seem to have concluded that it's too fancy for their tastes. They planned to see a different place last Thursday, but nobody got back to them to set up an appointment.

When they go up during the week, I usually can't do the driving for them. My sister has to fill in, or my father (if he's feeling well enough) does the driving himself.

Good luck with finding a 'good fit', it's not easy. All the best Anne

Tuesday 13th May 2009 7.45
Very dear Paul, You must take care of yourself my friend. You really really must.

Then you can enjoy your retirement next year and do all the wonderful things which you can do.

I believe that on another thread I suggested that you become the h2g2 Ambassador of the World/Universe!!

With much affection

Christiane
Ar80

Paul, what a dark, depressing time you're having lately. Just remember, things will get better.

I'm doing fine compared with the many who are out of work or ill. At least I can find ways to be helpful. And learn.

paul as 's ambassador to the rest of the universe? what a nice idea, AR80

i concur wholeheartedly

I guess it's a way to pile up frequent-flier miles.

And I can bore lots of fellow passengers on the long journeys between star systems. ,evilgrin>

Did I say bore? I meant delight.