The Ladies Who Know or the Last Wives Club

It's not a club you want to join.The dues are too damned high.But after you've buried your husbandThe ladies who know begin to appear.One brings you a book of meditations.They helped her then and they help her now.Others, widowed forever, take you to dinner.They tell you their stories, these ladies you barely know.They tell you their storiesThey listen to yours as long as you need to tell them.There are worse things than dying in your bed on a Sunday morning full of plans.There are worse things than dying in your bedThere are worse things than dying …Slowly, you become one of the ladies who know.

Source: The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry - January 11, 2019 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Nancy R. Davison Tags: Poem Source Type: research