Quantity Vs. Quality? by Catyrose

Life and living
Are not the same
This he has come to know
Within these lines is the question he has posed

Life carries with it your very breath
Living is captured in the pleasant sensation you experience
As you breathe in the fragrance of lilacs in the clean crisp air
A moment to be shared

Life is a beating heart
Living is feeling that heart skip a beat as you fall in love
Or the pain that defies physical description
As the love of your life is no more
When sorrow washes over your spirit like waves crashing upon the shore

Life is brain waves on the monitor
Living is thoughts reverberating inside your head
It is a quest for knowledge, answers sought, gathered and shared with another
Your closest friend and lifetime lover

Life is the presence of bodily functions
Living is a body that still operates
Taking walks in the moonlight with his love of so many years
Seeing the tears
That form in his tired eyes as he watches her slip away
With each passing day

Hearing the words he speaks to her each morning
As her body sustains life as the doctors are inclined to say
Feeling his touch upon her skin for more than just physical care
Etched in his memory are all the tender times they shared

Yes life and living are not the same
This I have come to know
Within these lines
Are the answers to the question he and I have posed
With concern and loving care

Life is merely physical existence
Living
Is being alive and aware

As I watch my step-mother's health deteriorate in her later years, I question which is more important, the number of years one draws breath or the quality of those years?

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