Out of Time

By Janie French
Mother of Austin Matthew French
5/15/98 to 9/8/98

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1999

Time is the greatest healer of grief,
Or so it's often told.
We hear it from almost everyone,
From young people and old.
We read it in the doctors' notes,
In pamphlets and in books.
We hear it from well-meaning friends
With their words and in their looks.
But as a grieving parent
In the midst of deep despair,
I can't help but wonder if
Enough time will be there.
In all the world, how could there be
Enough time to heal my heart
When my child was taken from me
And my dreams were torn apart.
And in the universe and galaxies
And the future far beyond
How could there ever be enough time
For my senses to respond;
To bring me back to life
The way it used to be;
For me to be the same person
I always knew as me?
The answer is simple, I tell myself,
Enough time will never come
For me and other grieving parents
To end what we suffer from.

By Janie French
Mother of Austin Matthew