RH
A note from Dr. Hendrix
This tender poem sits with something that has been happening more often — hearing my wife’s calming voice call my name when she is not in the room. I wrote it because growing old brings its own quiet strangenesses, and rather than fear them, I have decided to write them down gently and honestly.
— Dr. Roger Hendrix · We share these stories so you can know the family behind GreenTeaHP.
I hear her saying roger
I look around she’s not there this happens more frequently now
There is no answer for it
Other than hearing voices now
I think I am nearing the start of coming apart.
She has a calming voice
That’s why I don’t mind hearing her voice
As I continue turning around
Even when she’s not there
Work
I do one thing at a time
She does many things all the time
I try to do more than one thing at a time
She refuses to do only one thing at a time
So I’m back to doing one thing at a time
Laughing
I laugh a lot
She laughs less than that
She has learned to laugh
more than that
I continue to laugh a lot
Triumphs
It must always be a discount for her
It must be a fast purchase for me
So that’s why she stopped inviting me
as she shops for discounts for me
Money
We are a good team when it comes to money
She manages it
I invest it
when she wants, she invests it too
She’s known for generous tipping too
Grocery Shopping
I have a list, I find the items, I put them in the shopping cart
She comes behind and takes them out,
and puts what she wants into the shopping cart
Sleeping
We’ve slept in bed together for over forty five years
She now says she refuses to sleep with a third person in our bed
The iPad has to go, she says
Or you’ll be sleeping in another bed
Children
My wife wanted our children
To possess a thing or two
To be educated and independent too.
Underneath I wanted them to be tough too
They’ve all accomplished more than the two
They’re educated, independent and tough too
Children, cont.
Having educated, independent and tough children
Changes everything
They are no longer children
They are adults like you
as you know, adults have their own ideas
Even about you
That’s fine with me, is it with you?