Come, Break Bread with Me
Come, break bread with me,
and we shall talk of many things,
of peace and harmony, friendship,
and the turmoil that is life,
and how we may all just get along.
And so to form a bond so strong
As to forget to go to war.
We all stumble from time to troubled time.
But if we break bread together,
we will find a way to heal.
Come, break bread with me,
let us make music together,
let us sing in sweet harmony
of love and brotherhood.
Come, break bread with me
and we shall talk of loyalty,
of truth, and swear to honesty,
and bring out the best of merits
that we hold within ourselves.
Shall we? Break some bread together?
Learn to weather every weather?
Shall we look into each other’s eyes?
Shall we take each other by the hand?
Shall we toast ourselves with wine?
Break bread with me, and we’ll be fine.
–H. W. Bryce
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12 Stages
In assessing my experience with the care giving of my beloved wife during her Alzheimer’s journey, which became my journey, I analyzed out 12 stages that I went through.
Each was more difficult that the last.
Untill, toward the end, when acceptance visited me and I began to accept acceptance,
and as the end came within sight, I decided that I would have one more stage to go.
I had to strive for serenity. You know, that help me Lord to accept the things that I can…
“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
–Reinhold Niebuhr, American Theologian
To help me to do that, I decided that baking would be a soothing, calming escape and a path to inner peace after the turmoil of Alzheimer’s.
Well the baking has not gone well. In fact, it has been a non-starter. I have found myself far too busy keeping up with my blog here at hwbrycewrites.com – and writing for and attending poetry groups, working on a new book, etc., along with “life.”
This turns out to be a big bonus for the life after Alzheimer’s – or cancer, or any other vicious, heartless disease. Or even retirement. It has been the answer to that lurking question: What will I do to fill up my time “after”…
However, in the meantime, the cost of living has driven the price so high that it has given me a bit of a kick start into the realm of baking. I have taken to baking my own bread. In a bread machine. Hence, that lovely loaf above.
And so, I invite you all to come, break bread with me.
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In keeping with my underlying theme, may I point out that for every purchase of my book “Chasing a Butterfly: A journey in poems of love and loss to acceptance,” a portion of the price goes to the Alzheimer’s Society of BC?”
For a peek into “Chasing a Butterfly,” go to: goo.gl/nexsF4 http://bit.ly/2jQpFxS
Further reading at #caregiver #dementia #Alzheimers
Thank you.
