Like a breeze on the wind, through the window you’re gone

One moment here and the next just a sigh, a whisper

I didn’t say good-bye and mean it

I wish I had

I loved you Grandma, and love you still

And impatiently, grudgingly know that I am left waiting once again

Was Grandpa there with smile and open arms?

Or Joe with gentle wry grin and welcome

And your mother and sisters—all those you’ve loved and lost?

Was the journey hard? Or long? What were you waiting for?

The last months and years chipped away at your tough German façade

Relentlessly, remorselessly, sadistically—how you suffered

Was that necessary somehow? So much I don’t know and can only speculate.

My life is changed now…I’ve finally crossed irrevocably to adulthood

My childhood passing with my last surviving grandparent…

It’s time, but I’m so sad

Death is a door a window a boat sailing across a vast expanse

So many have tried to describe it

A veil a curtain an end a beginning

But us, those left behind resent its finality

I await the next step impatiently, but need to stay while my children need me

Strange…this world has no meaning without those we love

It’s just a ticking clock