Difficult to let go.......

Living in an enclave...
Of elderly relatives....
Makes one aware..
More than ever of the fragility of life...
And its impermanence...

We often move from one crisis..
To the next...
As the old have their problems...

One surfaces..
As the next struggles under...

Wise friend counsels me to..
Learn to let go...
If you really love them...
You will let them go...

Easier said than done...

Having reached and crossed the mid-century mark...
I look around and find that almost half the familiar faces...
Of those friends of family and relatives...distant and near...
That have peopled my life up until now..
Are no longer there...

I have been fortunate...
To have had them with me until now...
But that only makes it more difficult...
Especially because
My life has revolved around them these past few years...

Perhaps it is also because..
I am more bound to their generation...
Feel closer and more comfortable with them..
Than with the younger ones...
I feel...
More cherished by them....

It is natural therefore...
That I value them...

They are old friends...
Among the best that I have had...
So I like to be selfish..
And hope that they will stay on..

As..
I'd hate to say
Goodbye....