Auntie Jean has ALS

I know you're going.
The whole family knows.

We are sad that you are leaving.
But we hope your passing
Is quick and easy,
Without pain.

I've been told you can't move much any more.
That you can no longer use your Speak and Spell
To substitute for speech.

I heard that you sleep a lot.

Perhaps in your dreams
You're freed for a time
From the prison that has become your body, your life.

I hope that you quickly
Shuck off that defective body
That somehow got trapped
In a disease too horrible to contemplate.

I hope that you pass quickly
And painlessly
To someplace new
Where you can
      Run
      And jump
      And sing again.

You were always
The brightest, happiest, spark in the family.

We will miss you.

But more than anything
You deserve to be free.


	24 October 2002
	by Bill Cattey