A Fortnight Of Aging

The Edge of Humanity Magazine Jan 29,2023

Written by Mary Anne Abdo

Fourteen days and new winkles have appeared.

New awareness of loved ones.

Trying to fit into their aging skins.

Misleading medical advice.

Because the aging population is not vitally important.

On the ground for twelve hours.

Almost lost you to heaven on that gurney.

Lovingly cleaning up old blood.

From the bathroom.

To the hallway.

Through the living room.

And along the side of the bed.

All because aging is not revered nor respected.

A toss off.

Hospital emergency rooms revisited.

Same room shared by two sisters.

The hallways crowded

Code orange and code red.

Blaring over the loudspeaker.

In hyper mode until 3am.

We are not in our same skins as winter draws nearer.

Making decision and crying so many heaps of tears.

Memories of loved ones and how they used to be.

We have time for nothing and yet nothing is being achieved.

Sitting in the dark noise of silence.

I am contemplating aging…

Thank you to the Edge of Humanity MagazIne for publishing my latest work. It was written right after a long night spent with my sister during an emergency surgery for my aunt. She is 88 years old and her doctor gave her a blase answer to a medical condition that could have been taken care of with simple antibiotics. But instead it lead to a life threatening situation, that she almost died from. She is now in a nursing home with two more surgeries coming up in February to correct the mistake her doctor had chosen to ignore.