November is Care-givers Month

November is Care-givers Month

Family care-givers are the quiet, little-known but self-sacrificial and sustaining force to stroke survivors world wide. Their contribution towards the National Health Budget in any Country is seldom noticed. November is the Care-givers Month where in the US, is celebrated with appreciation and acknowledgment to these group of “Angels.” In support for them I have reproduced a beautifully written poem by a stroke survivor from India. Some thing that was written from the heart.

It seems I never can begin to say,

“Thank-you for all you’re doing for me.”

I’m grateful and I want to let you know

That I appreciate the help and loving care you’re giving me.

But when I try to say the words,

They get stuck in a lump in my throat.

You may think I am an ingrate,

So this small poem to you I wrote.

Thank you, dearest, for looking after me,

Helping me with things I cannot do.

My stroke has caused me much misery,

But I know that I could not have survived without you.

You have saved my life several times over,

I realize you are patient and wise.

And I can do nothing to help you or thank you,

Except look at you with love in my eyes.

I love you with all my heart,

I don’t want to live if we are apart.

You are my savior, much more than my wife,

Without you for me there can never be any life.

All these months from your lips has there rarely come a rude word,

Only soothing, calming and comforting sounds I have heard.

Patience and compassion in plenty have you displayed,

In return, my tongue has been sharp as any blade.

I want you to know that your efforts have not been a waste,

I want to quickly recover and then, post-haste.

We’ll get back to normal and once again,

I’ll return to the happy life we had before I was felled by the stroke.

And this will all look like an unpleasant joke.

Happy days will be here once more,

We will go on visits to many a far away shore.

We will take long walks together hand in hand,

And go sight-seeing in an exotic land.

We’ll return to being the most romantic couple the world has ever seen,

We will paint the towns red and orange and blue and green!

Through my illness you have kept your cool,

Even when I clumsily drop things and disgustingly drool.

I try my best to present a cheerful face,

But I am unable to match life’s vigor and pace.

Edward Haeems

Stroke Survivor

Ahmedabad, India

Read Related Posts on Stroke
What is a Stroke?
Facts of Stroke & The Warning Signs.
Stroke Risk Factors.
Understanding Spasticity
Eating & The Stroke Survivor
The Job No One Asks For

[tags]stroke, stroke survivor, stroker caregivers[/tags]