BY GAYLE KIRSCHENBAUM | Recently I woke up to see on a family thread a prose poem written by my 98-year-old mother. She lives alone in a small home in Florida. I was familiar with what she was going through and suspected what triggered her to put this out to her loved ones. I was so moved by her words that I wanted to share them with you.
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BY MILDRED KIRSCHENBAUM |
The last three weeks were a mess for me. I did not have a landline, which affected my alarm system, my alert system and my security camera system. It was like dominoes. Everything went down, though now they put most of it together. They have one more little piece to fix, which I’m waiting for.
I have been thinking about my life.
I believe in science.
It changed my life.
I wrote with a pen and ink always having ink all over me. And then came the ballpoint pen. What a pleasure.
As an adult, I had a washing machine, dryer, dishwasher and all the electric appliances from mixers to grinders.
I believe in science.
When my children were very young, we worried about polio. When the neighbor’s child was in an iron lung and the electricity went out it was tragic.
Along came the vaccine.
I believe in science.
Another neighbor’s son doing a residency died of hepatitis.
Now we have vaccines.
I believe in science.
Now we have communication. We have cell telephones.
When my parents were away in Florida for the winter and my children were out of town for university, we spoke only once a week on a Sunday and briefly because the telephone bill was $25 or more.
I believe in science.
We have computers to bank, to send mail, to send texts. I never dreamed I would see this.
How lucky we are.
Now about life.
When my husband came home from work at the funeral home and he said it was busy: “We had a couple of 65-year-olds who died.”
It is not unusual to live to 90 today.
I am 98.
I believe in science.
It gave me an automobile that I can easily access.
It gave me the ability to fly from one place to another.
It gave me all the luxuries I could ever want.
I believe in science.
I only wish science could discover a few more cures.
It will one day because
I believe in science.
I enjoy every gift God has given me.
Do not sweat the small stuff and
believe in science.
Love you all,
Mom, Gram, Nana
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We all have choices in our life. Mom wrote this soon after one of our loved ones got COVID and was quite sick, after having refused to be vaccinated and still refusing to do so. She has witnessed another die who also wouldn’t get vaccinated. Mom believes in science and so do I.
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