I heard the phrase "New Jersey funk" today and ran with it.
Disclaimer:
My parents don't live in NJ; this is not directly about them or me.
It's a conglomeration of thoughts based on conversations with people
around my age who have elderly parents or have recently lost elderly
parents.
Was in a New Jersey funk
Got too much junk
Rattling around my brain.
Got too much time on my hands
Not enough miles on my feet,
Visiting family can do that.
Tough to get older
And watch an aging parent
Weakened limbs,
Weakened mind,
Raedy to move on
Because they no longer want to be a burden.
Tough to watch and wonder
If this is what your life will be
Will you lose your short term memory
And have vivid recall of the distant past.
Will you be comforted by voices of dead people in your head,
A soundtrack to the pictures on the refrigerator door
And in frames in every room of your house.
A New Jersey funk,
Sifting through too much junk
Rattling around in my brain.
Got too much time on my hands
Not getting enough miles on my feet.
Visiting elderly family can do that.
Wallowing in family memories can do that.
Remembering the good times, bad times,
Knowing there’s really not enough time
To make up for time away.
No way to go back and relive the missing years.
In a New jersey funk.
Nothing that a trip to a cemetery
To visit family
Won’t cure.
Something about retelling family tales
Lifts the gloom
And replaces it with laughter.
Another family trip saved
By the craziness of family time and stories.
They get better with age.
