In the space of 20 minutes

I saw 60 years.

I lived through two marriages –

two divorces,

and then, strangely, our break up.

Slipping in and out of consciousness,

the present seemed out of reach.

Grasping onto it for three minutes

only for the inevitable slip,

slip, slip away to wash over me.

Fear embodied me:

ashen face.  Shaking hands.  Unsteady legs.

And the tears.  More tears than I have shed in years.

With your hands, you tried to hold me in the present.

And though I kept slipping out of your grasp,

you stayed by me.

You stroked my hair

and you held my hands.

And I will never forget that.

I will never forget that Chailey trip.