She says “We’re going to be moving
back up north,” and you can see
from the scowl on his face that this
is not an idea he likes at all, but
a battle he knows better than to fight.
He has been through so many
medical crises and he shows signs
of the toll they have taken on him,
but you cannot see the toll they
have taken on her, although you
know it had been a heavy burden,
one she bore out of love, but one
she knows she can share if they
are nearer family, if they live
in a retirement community where
the day to day problems of having
a home are part and parcel
of the price you pay to live there.
“And,” she says when he is
not looking, “we can slide from
independent living to assisted
far more easily” and her eyes say
she knows this is coming sooner
they he would ever admit or concede.