Who Benefited
By Niall Twohig
Dear Ma,
Today, I think about your sacrifices:
Were they “worth it”?
Who benefited?
We, your kids, certainly benefited. There’s no denying that. You kept us afloat. But you never got to live – to truly live. Your life was work. Shift after shift after shift. Every break: time to recharge for work. Every holiday: time to prepare meals and celebrations you had no appetite or energy to enjoy. And you’re still working into your 76th year. No real option to retire. No real life to retire to.
To keep us afloat, you must not live. You must work.
To me this is too great a sacrifice.
And it hides the real beneficiary:
Not us. Not your patients.
Hospitals turned into corporations.
They have fed off your care work,
stolen away our family time,
broke your knees and raised your blood pressure.
They required you to care for too many years
without ever insuring you the care you need to fully live.
And they’ll live on, larger because of your labors,
as you shrink and fade away
having never fully lived.
I want to find a happy ending here.
But I’m tired from the weariness
forced upon you.
I love you,
the you who sacrificed,
and the you who never got to be.
Niall