Juanita Morris

I was sixteen and he was not much more,
He swept me off my feet and told me forever more,
We moved to West Virginia, and settled amongst the new,
He went to work as a barber, and I worked too,
I became a writer for the paper and kept busy all the while,
I had my children Ronita, Lenora, Duane, while working on the paper,
The rest of our family moved to extend our community,
Every weekend was together, as a family, a whole,
My parents lived above us and Thomas' down below,
It was all terribly happy, until that one dark day,
Our camelot was about to end,
I quit my job at the paper, to tend to his every need,
How sad I was and yet he kept on going,
The doctor said three months, I felt it was more like two weeks,
As he grew weaker, my spirits dropped,
I was losing the love of my life,
And I had to proceed,
Then one grey day, he said goodbye
To me and our family,
How sad I was to see him cry,
As everyone left his room,
I knelt by his side,
I hugged his frail body, and gave a kiss to his pale cheek,
As I let go, his eyes finally closed,
And Thomas went to sleep,
I cried for days,
My children wept too,
As we laid his box into the ground,
My whole body shook,
He was gone and a part of me died,
I was never the same after that day,
I wished for years to see him again,
And now I have found my eternity.

Jenna Theriault