The loneliest One
The Loneliest One
On the front page of the local paper:
“Woman Killed”
I knew her, she was younger than me, a friend of my sisters from long ago
When we were all young, teenagers
She babysat for a friend of mine for many years
She was at my first wedding,
I have her high school graduation picture
And she is in other photos.
We all knew one another in the small town, ran around, stayed involved, you know how it is,
Over the years you get on with life
Some of us moved, some moved and came back and some of us
Never left.
I would see her sometimes, we would always talk for a while,
Catch up a bit.
Once at the grocery store, she saw me and came over to say hi
She looked sad,
So sad….
Said it seemed like no matter how hard she tried, that nothing changed, or got better,
I tried to reassure, told her things would get better,
Don’t give up,
She just looked at me, tears filling her eyes, and said..
No, I don’t think anything is going to get better.
Then she straightened up and apologized,
Said she didn’t mean to bother me, and everything was fine
Just fine.
After that I would see her occasionally over the years, she was more distant,
A little harder,
she had a wall built around her
It’s one way to cope
I wish now that I could have known what to say or do, to help her
A common wish.
I wonder if she ever knew true love,
Had someone who loved her, just for her self,
I don’t know.
So now her life here on earth is done.
Peace at last now, sister
In the heavenly home,
Rest in the heart of the one
Who loves the most,
The ones who were loved
Least.
.