"A Touch of Love"

by Jo Gail Dolenski

It is has been my outlet to write stories and poems about my grandson, Boo,
who lived with my husband and I as we became his caretakers. This was to be
our greatest treasure....

I do not know if others experience this aspect of these great losses but my
husband and I have difficulty talking about Jonathan with each other as we do
not want to make each other hurt anymore...He is a closed man anyway and my
tears keep me from being able to speak the words much, but I can write them...

Jonathan passed away January 2, 1997 from SIDS three days shy of his first
birthday...

I have since needed to tell my husband the things that I treasure about his
great role is little Boo's life...Finally today, I was able to start and would
like to share it with someone....

Thank you,

Jo Gail Dolenski

A Touch of Love
By Jo Gail Dolenski
5-1-97

There are things in my life
That have come to be
Implanted in my mind,
Indelibly...

These thoughts are of hands,
One large pair, one small
One a man of stature
And a baby, so small.

The first time we saw Boo
Was through glass to befall
This newborn surprise,
3 lb, one ounce in all.

As he was still wrapped in tubes
He could not yet be held
So with gloves through the glass
The touches could meld.

My husband's strong hand
Next to this tiny boy's came
His thumb bigger than the whole hand
For this child with no name...

From that moment on
They were bonded to be..
This tiny boy's hero
For all eternity...

The large hands worked feverishly
Late into each night...
To prepare a room perfect
For this little gent's plight...

The large man was exhausted
Yet continued to strive,
To do everything possible
For this baby to thrive...

Boo's Paw Paw bathed him, fed him
Diapered him too...
The large hands did things
Some men still care not to do...

You would see them on Sundays
Sitting side by side...
Hand in hand watching football
With a gleam in their eye.

One thing he talked of was
He longed him to grow,
So for a big Mac and Happy Meal
Hand in hand they would go!

When the little hands would caress him
His heart would melt away
For how that touches your heart
Is impossible to say...

The big hands would miss buttons
And dirty faces too...
But that was a "man thing"
Between Paw Paw and Boo..

They went to the playland
Under the arches of Gold...
A man and his grandson
His dream did unfold...

Yet the big hands touched the small ones
One bleak January day,
For all the love he had for the baby
Good-bye was all he could say...

Now the hands I love so much,
Are to wipe the tears away...
He still goes by the cemetery often
"I love you" just to say...

Not all big men have big hearts,
Yet this one does to me...
For he was a hero to Little Boo...
And a bigger one to me!

Now God's hands have touched our Boo
Heaven is his new home...
Yet I know he will remember his Paw Paw's touch...
While the stars and clouds he'll roam...

I have always loved my husband
And respect him even more than before...
But for what he was to Boo,
I could never love him more...