Please Don't Tell Me

 

Please don't tell me that I'm strong,

Not because it isn't true but because it is like telling me my eyes are brown.

Don't assume my burdens are easier to bear because I am strong,

They are as heavy for me as they would be for you,

But they are mine to carry like a million pounds of lead crushing my body and my soul.

I do not carry them out of some sense of nobility, but because I have no choice.

 

Tell me some jokes.

Send me pictures of your adventures and videos of your grand babies learning to walk.  

Have tea with me and we will plan the adventures we will have together one day.

Remind me that it won't always be like this.

That better days will come.

Don't tell me to be grateful and to focus on my blessings.

No one is more grateful than I am.

There is room for weariness and gratitude to co-exist..

Have a good gab with me about politics and social trends,

About fashion and books and memories of the days when we were young. 

Tell me your stories, your hopes and your dreams.

Just please, don't tell me I am strong.

Today I don't want to be strong.

Today I just want to be happy.

 

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