Perspective

Emily Dickinson and I have something in common. She also lived in her family home and took care of her invalid mother. And she also talked about death a lot.

There are a few minor differences between us still, for instance, the famed and beloved poetry, the agoraphobia, the whole white dress thing, and oh yes, the fact that Emily Dickinson tended to her invalid mother for thirty years. THIRTY YEARS.

So, I shall stop my sniveling and just quietly back away, leaving you with this lovely line ED wrote in a letter following her mother's death:

"The dear Mother that could not walk, has flown. It never occurred to us that she had not Limbs, she had Wings—-and she soared from us unexpectedly as a summoned Bird—-" Emily Dickinson

(Just to avoid any confusion, also unlike Emily Dickinson, at the time of this writing my mother is still living. I just thought the quote was lovely.)