Gerri ..... Geraldine

"22 Steps up"
She says
that Patrick told her
That she has to be able
to Climb 22 steps up
to his Apartment.

She knows she not going
Home with Patrick, the maintenance guy.
She knows that she's probably not
leaving this place Again;
Not this time ...

A nurse, herself
she's living out her days
in a Nursing Home.
A Home to so many
who otherwise
Have no Home.

They all Love her there.
But she longs to be Special;
Not knowing that she already is --
Always has been.

If only for a few days, weeks at most
She knew
She really knew
that she was Special
And Loved by a Man
that She was in Love with.

And he told her
That he wanted to Marry her.
And she was Happy.
Truly, very Happy.
Until the moment her Life started to crumble
Down around her.

As happy as she Ever
Imagined to be
She woke her mother
And father
to tell them of her Heart's Desire
To Marry her Love
and Live out her days
in Joy with Him.

"Who is this Boy?"
her father asked.
"Yes, and Who are his Family?"
posed her mother.
"He's not Jewish, is he?"
That name sounds Jewish.
"CATHOLIC??"
They Halted.
"This will Never Be..."

And that, was that.
Her fate beginning to be sealed.
She Loved this Man
and Lost her Hope
Day by Day
Their Love Growing more Painful
with Each meeting.
More painful and Strong.

And she Shared with Him
What she would never again
Share with another....
Never before
And Never Again.

And Life sprung Forward
Inside her
From that Love.
"I'll convert," he conceded.
Her parents still wouldn't consider it.
After all,
"He was Raised That Way ..."
Such hatred for a Love
based on Fear
(It never ends, that kind of hate)

"And they made me Kill my Baby;
My mother and father.....
They Made me," she told me
As she cried.

After that, she spent time in a
Psychiatric hospital.
Just Couldn't get over Both Losses.
"I was just Sick, they said,
They All said I was sick...
I just loved him So... and My Baby....
Do You think that she's in Heaven?"

Her Love disappeared
And So did her Heart
And her Confidence
And "Sick", in Her mind,
Was all she knew about herself.

Determined to make Good of herself,
she became a nurse's aid.
Studied Well enough to earn
her LPN from the State of Florida.
Then Cared for her Charges the Rest of her Life.

Small in Stature at 4 feet tall,
the Arthritic hands of a Squirrel.
She cries for her losses
But Fights for her Life
no Matter what it throws at Her.
Which has been loneliness, hard work
And alienation.
But what Spirit gave her --
Determination, Love and Self-Respect --
no One and Nothing could Effect.

And for that,
I will always have Respect.
Having been the target of Hate, Prejudice
and Condemnation to Hell, I felt for Gerri
And Fast Friends we Became.

Nothing holds you back
from Bettering yourself, Geraldine.
Even if, on Some days -- when your body hurts
And rebels against your will, you pull from
a False Hope of Going Home
with Patrick, who, because he doesn't know
How else to make any of you feel any better,
Helps you to Fall in Love with Him.

I wonder if he reminds you
of Your One True Love ... ?

I'll miss you, My Friend.
Thank you for your Trust in Me.

(c)2009jsblankenship