I’ve been thinking about writing down my experiences with my dad and the other people at the nursing home for a while now but something held me back. Maybe it’s the resistance Steven Pressfield talks about, maybe it’s because I never considered myself a writer, maybe I didn’t know where to start or more than likely, maybe it’s because writing it down means I have to deal with my feelings about all of it. Some moments have been can’t catch my breath funny and some are so heartbreaking no words will adequately describe the sadness. With the new year approaching I am choosing not to hide from my feelings, I am choosing love, I am choosing to show up and I am choosing to write. 

Tonight, I sat down to see what was available online talking about the elderly. I found this quote which captures the feeling that has been haunting my heart for the last year…“The death of an old person is like the burning of a library.” -Alex Haley (thought to originate from an African proverb) I encourage you to really sit with this quote for awhile. That is why I am writing this. Hopefully I can save a few chapters of some of the books in the beautiful libraries of the people I know.