Nobody Warned Me

When I was young and full of youthful vigor,

nobody warned me

someday, my energy would disappear, like the waning crescent moon.

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When days would seem to stretch out forever,

nobody warned me

someday, time would fly by, quicker than a reporter's rush to judgment.

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When lying in the yard, marveling at what shapes the clouds resembled,

nobody warned me

the day would come when such relaxing activities would be considered a frivolous waste of time.

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When I awoke in the mornings, raring to run outside and play,

nobody warned me

of the mornings when it would hurt just to get out of bed, feeling like the Tin Man trying to move before he was oiled.

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When my day would just be getting started at night,

nobody warned me

someday, I’d have as much difficulty trying to stay awake past 8:00 p.m., as a child has going to sleep.

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When I was as healthy as a horse,

nobody warned me

it would take two hands to count on my fingers my number of surgeries, just to keep me going.

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When I could just brush my long, lush hair and be good to go,

nobody warned me

I’d have to wear a wig someday to cover patches of scalp, as sparse as a mountain top above its tree line.

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When taking my precious parents and grandparents for granted,

nobody warned me

I’d long for them, but they would suddenly be gone, with just an empty space in my heart where they used to be.

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When stealing glances at my latest crush, anxious for a returned smile,

nobody warned me

I was in the best years of my life, as fleeting as a promising cloud in the midst of a drought.

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When dates competed for my attention and hung on my every word,

nobody warned me

my husband would lose interest and romance would become just a fond memory, as distant as the stars in the sky.

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When dancing the night away with joy and laughter,

nobody warned me

someday, it would be my last dance, as final as a death penalty that had been refused pardon.

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When assuming I had all the time in the world to pursue my dreams,

nobody warned me

if I put them off, someday it would be too late, like the alarm clock whose snooze button had been hit too many times.

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When I was too busy to play with my precious little children,

nobody warned me

they’d grow up so quickly and move away; then I would be the one begging for their attention.

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When I thought anybody over age 30 had ignorance rather than wisdom,

nobody warned me

someday, everybody younger than me would roll their eyes at my ridiculous insight and experience.

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When one-after-another I lost track of friends I thought I’d have forever,

nobody warned me

to keep a friend, you have to make the effort to be a friend.

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When lacking appreciation for the wide variety of delicious, nutritious foods,

nobody warned me

someday, I couldn’t digest the ones I needed—much less wanted.

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When accumulating more and more material things over the years,

nobody warned me

someday, I’d donate them all away, just to have less things collecting dust.

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When I was obsessed with keeping an immaculate house,

nobody warned me

my tombstone could say: “She wanted to have many adventures… but, she had to scrub the toilet.”

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When I was obsessed with immersing myself into supporting this or that agenda or cause,

nobody warned me

someday, I would realize I'd been wasting my time and effort, like the social media junkie who keeps checking to see how many likes they have.

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When future gatherings were assumed to always be as regular as the sunrise and sunset,

nobody warned me

one-by-one, life would come to an unexpected screeching halt for my loved ones, near and far.

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When I was much too busy to bother fulfilling my spiritual need,

nobody warned me

I would need it to sustain me someday more than anything else in my life, which had flown by faster than the light I had refused to see.

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When growing together for years, like two trees whose roots had become intertwined,

nobody warned me

I’d be facing the end of my own days, all alone—at a loss because of the aching void, where he used to be.