George W. Baker

She said, "You know, I´m sick of this! You never really cared,"
then grumbled that he hadn´t tried in anything they shared.
And there were times in all those years, her love grew very dim,
and made her think of all the things she never got from him.

"Just give me what I´m needing here and do what others do.
The little things that matter most, that´s all I ask of you.
A gentle touch. A warm embrace. Would that be such a crime?
And if you won´t, I swear to God, I´m leaving you this time!"

He sat beside her in their room and gently took her hand,
then looked into her tired eyes and said, "I understand.
I´m sorry if I´ve let you down. I´ve done the best I could.
But if you really want to leave, well...then I guess you should."

He said, "But I have cared for you, in good times and in bad!
And through those years I hope you knew, I gave it all I had!
But now we´re in this, Elder-Care, the only thing to do
is take care of each other so that we can make it through."

Within her hand he placed a card shaped like an Easter egg.
He signed it, ´To my valentine, forgive this card I beg´.
He said, "The gift shop down the hall sold out of Valentines,
so this one here will have to do. Just read between the lines."

Her heart throbbed deeply in her chest. Her eyes filled up with tears.
She´d loved him from the day they met, back nearly sixty years.
With trembling hands she kissed the card and placed it on their hutch,
then said, "Alright, I´ll stick around. You´d miss me too darn much."