The following manuscript was submitted to the April 2017 Arts in Medicine Themed Writing Contest.
How do you enjoy that
Which will be gone — sooner than someday?
A friend who will move away.
Do you take her for granted
Or hold on the back burner of your mind the space that she will leave?
Is this how God teaches gratitude?
A child on hospice
Whose mind slips away like his whispers under home oxygen
Parting forever but to be seen soon in full joy
Yet still here, breathing,
opening his eyes
How do you catch your breath
And blow up to bursting this balloon
And fill this moment with her presence?
Perhaps warning of leaving is a gift.
Fellow Physician Contributing Writer
University of Minnesota School of Medicine
Ellen Ingolfsland is a neonatology fellow at the University of Minnesota. She does basic science research in retinopathy of prematurity. She loves the Twin Cities and exploring their lakes and paths with her family.