While you were alive,
You brought color to my life,
Laughter to my voice,
Warmth to my heart.

I visited you every weekend,
Blue walls, long hallways,
The pink door,
I remember the time I walked in,
And you said,
“Hey you. You didn’t say ‘I love you’ last week”,
Ninety five years old and you still remembered.

The nurse said you had,
COPD, Pneumonia,
Emphysema, Type 2 Diabetes,
High Blood Pressure,
System Failure, Old age,
Like she was reading of a medical list,
I was ready to punch her in the face,
She just made things worse.

Moments that will last forever,
Memories that will never fade,
Memories like holding your hand,
Your skin like paper mache,
Bright blue veins,
Until the color went away.

At the funeral,
A tear fell from my eye,
As I said my last goodbye,
To your casket, dark brown.
I wished it was a brighter color.

Your face powder white,
Your smile glued on,
So handsome,
In your five hundred dollar suit,
But I prefer your red and white plaid shirts,
With your dirt brown penny loafers.

On the coffee colored grass,
The tears stopped,
The pain went away,
I know you’re in a better place.
Now that it has been a year,
It’s not so tough,
I still miss you,
But I remember your smiles,
Not your tears.

We still weep and feel sorrow,
But the sadness is fading away,
The happy memories are starting to stay.

Because the image of you in my brain,
The brilliant colors,
Will never fade away,
And the rainbow of your life,
Will forever shine in my eyes.