Last Thoughts for RoseAnn

We buried a favorite cousin of mine last week, and the world will not be as bright without her.

Last Thoughts for RoseAnn

We worried COVID

would catch you, especially 

here in the Heartland,

invade the senior home where

you lived, and lay claim to you.

Instead, a fall left

you senseless, breaking bones once

more, and in your core

you breathed, "Enough!" clearing out

briskly, grabbing a night train.

Journeyed to the stars,

sprinkled them with laughter and

matched their radiance

with the sparkle in your eyes,

knowing your mate waited there.

"A Long Life, Well Lived"

an apt epitaph for you,

your optimism,

and unfailing charity

from a heart twice normal size.

Marilyn Aschoff Mellor