DO YOU KNOW CAN YOU IMAGINE

Can you imagine being a single parent on disability as your only source of
income while raising two children with no support from the father while attending college to get a degree to turn your financial situation around and at every turn you are being hit with everything but the kitchen sink

Can you imagine watching your life unfold as it spirals out of control you don't want to accept defeat because you know you are stronger than you think Can you feel the judging eyes of the naysayers who never got to know you they can't even begin to understand your story

Can you see the faces of the children full of life and dreams and they can't understand why mom can't supply all their needs and maybe sometimes just get some of their wants Can you see the hurt in the mother’s eyes when
she has to deny them again for another bill has to be paid


Can you hear the cries every night can you see the anguish and how distraught
Can you see the dream that is trying not to give way to the scream how can she compete when there is no rhyme or reason all there is; is treason Single parents have it tough it doesn’t matter whether it’s a single mother or father either way with the exception of God they walk alone

Friends can only go so far agencies are for a moment and then you go through red tape only to find there is no escape So much turmoil and confusion and you wonder why there’s disillusion Trying to hold on to faith but church sometimes is a joke especially when you’re left to choke what is left when you have Prayed and cried and deliverance hasn’t come to your rescue how do you stop from coming unglued

If only you could come down from your perfect world and see the life and struggles of a single parent then maybe you could help them make it through

If only you could see pass the façade you would hear the voice of hurt and pain while a single parent is trying to maintain

If only you could walk a mile in a single parents shoe then you would understand how choosing the right path isn’t always easy to do

Single parents aren’t always looking for a handout just a compassionate ear and an understanding heart would be a great start

How do you see or define disability? Does the person have to be in a wheelchair or walking with a cane or walker? Do they have to be blind or lame?
Just because a person appears to be in good health and seems to have nothing physically wrong does that mean they’re not disabled? How would you feel or react if someone said to you, you need to get off your lazy behind and get a job I’m tired of you taking my hard earn tax dollars because you’re too lazy to work? Can you imagine?


A word to the wise come down off your pedestal and see that single parent as they are hanging in the balance one glance may save the life that you judge is on top of the world






© 2009 NORA L. GIST