ROSE'S STORY

Ninety-three year old “Tom” suffers from kidney cancer. He has been living in an Assisted Living Center for six months. He has declined the past few weeks where now he is in bed most of the time. Staff from the facility check on him every two hours and attend to any needs.

Tom was widowed one year ago after his wife of sixty-seven years, Rose, died of cancer. Tom is aware that he is declining and feels his time is running out. During my visit this week, Tom started talking about his wife’s childhood. He was so proud of her and of what she became in spite of all the struggles she endured growing up.

Poverty was a big part of that struggle. Also her parents traveled in the circus and she was sent to her aunt’s home in another state. She was loved like a daughter, but always had a sense of not quite belonging.

Tom met Rose while both were attending college and he was instantly smitten. This was during the years where women were expected to stay home and become wives and mothers; not attend college.

Recently Tom started writing Rose’s story on a yellow legal pad. He is slowly becoming weaker and is struggling with putting his words together. When I asked him if he would like a hospice volunteer to help him complete Rose’s story, his face just lit up. He feels it is so important that his children know their mother’s background and the family history.

Tom spoke about how his father was drafted into the Turkish army and subsequently escaped to France. He would love to know the story about his father’s daring adventure, but there is no one to ask. He doesn’t want his children to have the same unanswered questions. He is anxious to get her story down on paper because, at his death, there will be no one else to ask.

This is a strong reminder for each of us to ask and document our own family histories. Tom has taught me that each of us is a walking history book that needs to be shared in order for future generations to know about their own family history. 


ROSE’S STORY

He wants to tell Rose’s story.
He wants their children to know
all about their mother’s childhood;
all about her life.

The poverty that existed;
the difficulties abound.
It may help them understand her
by the struggles she endured.

He’ll tell them about the circus.
How it kept her parents away.
Her mother a trick pony rider;
her father a cook.

How she was raised by relatives
miles away in another state.
How they loved her like a daughter,
but somehow she never fit in.

She was strong, she was determined,
a trailblazer in her time.
How she graduated college
while her peers tended home.

He wants to write it all down
so their grandchildren too will know
all about their grandmother;
all about their ancestry.

No faded memories.
No questions left unturned.
Her legacy handwritten on paper.
A family heirloom forevermore.

He knows the clock is ticking.
He knows his time is near.
One last wish before he dies
is all wrapped up in
Rose’s story.