Ready for Eternity
In memory of Aimee Norris

Words softly spoken, heart violently shattered -
From that moment, nothing mattered
"It's cancer", the doctor said,
"We're not sure how far it's spread.
I wish I could . . . but I can't lie . . .
Aimee, there's a chance that you will die."

Wish there were some magic word
To undo those the doctor uttered.
Traveling home in disbelief -
Much too shocked for tears' relief.
Hugged my spouse . . . finally the dam burst
Tears streaming, his shirt immersed.

My husband! What would he do
Without me to help him thru?
My children! They'd be distraught
And grow up a motherless lot.
Certainly I could not leave!
Surely there must be reprieve!

All that night . . . sobbing, shaking -
Morning's light caught my heart breaking.
Day and night, night and day -
Mattered not, all blurred to gray.
My sorrow inconsolable.
My tears uncontrollable.

First in shock, I wept and cried.
Then in anger, I wept and cried.
In bitterness, I wept and cried.
With self-pity, I wept and cried.
Mattered not what mood I tried.
Flowing tears would not be dried.

Shock gave way to self-pity -
Then anger with ferocity.
Anger turned to bitterness
Leaving only sullen emptiness.
Then . . . so slowly I didn't spy it . . .
Came with time a peaceful quiet.

In its stillness I reflected -
Came to see the unexpected.
This is not what I would choose -
Too soon to pay heaven's dues.
But knowing my days were measured
Made each one highly treasured.

Whether one year or one hundred -
Tis nothing when against eternity spread.
We may not know the hour or the day -
But I knew that thief cometh my way.
And in his hand a gilded spoon
With elixir of eternal swoon.

And yet I found comfort in the knowledge
That I was at life's endmost edge
Which soon I would step off of.
For I know there waited His gentle glove
To deliver me into bliss eternally.
For yes, I am ready for eternity.