Abbie Johnson Taylor’s poetry collection, How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver, was published by iUniverse in December of 2011. Her novel, We Shall Overcome, also published by iUniverse, was released in July 2011. She is legally blind and lives in Sheridan WY with her totally blind husband Bill, partially paralyzed as a result of two strokes. Visit her website here.

The Day My Husband Had a Stroke
By Abbie Johnson Taylor

It’s about a quarter to twelve on Saturday, January 28th, 2006.
I’m walking downtown where I’ll meet a friend for lunch.
Afterward, I’ll come home, finish laundry,
read a book, anticipate the spaghetti dinner he’ll fix later.
At four o’clock, I’ll listen to “A Prairie Home Companion.”
At six, I’ll meet others in my singing group at the Eagles Club where we’ll perform for a wine tasting.
At seven, I’ll come home, expect to find supper on the table–
instead he’ll be lying on the floor.
Our lives won’t be the same.