What Difference Does It Make?

Ever sit beside a dying person in a coma

who could not respond to you? It has

happened to many of us, and for me

several times. My mother first and my

second wife later on in life.

Of course sitting there in the quiet,

you get to thinking about your history

with that person, all the good time

memories and the difficult times too.

What does any of it matter now? Sure

remembering is important, in part it

make us who are, who we have come

to be.

For the other person lying there unre-

sponsive, you’re not sure what is going

on inside. Does any of this or that matter

to them now?

What is on your mind will not change

anything for either of you. What does it

matter now?

This is the beginning of the loss between

you two. What difference does it make if

the gas bill is paid, if there are clean socks

in the dresser drawers?

What difference does it make if the

Cardinals win the World Series or

the Coast of Liberia falls off into the

Ocean?

What difference does it make if the

train arrives on time in Tokyo, if grapes

ripen on the banks of the Rhine?

Who cares what tomorrow may bring?

What difference does it make if it was

me lying there, dying there instead of

you, as one day inevitably it shall be?

None of it really matters now—the

loss of you is a loss in me. May we

both rest in peace.

                     -30-

Chris Hanch 6-9-2020