Inspiring Quotes for Caregivers — 11/12/08
“If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.”~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
With gratitude to Lance Ekum at The Jungle of Life for unearthing this poem!
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Linda, I love this poem (but I think you already knew this!). This really is such a fitting poem for your site – I think it really speaks to what being a caregiver is all about. And it’s a reminder that what caregivers do is NOT in vain – helping to make another’s life easier, however so that is – what a gift to share. Linda, this poem shouts your name to me – you are truly a wonderful person, giving so much of “you” away to others. Continue to be that light…
Hi Linda. I saw this on Lance’s blog a few days ago. It is inspiring. My comment had been and is again… I’d never thought that robins faint
Hi Lance — I told you I was going to “draw a big arrow” over to your site for this poem.
Thank you so much for your kind words — I will certainly try to live up to them!
Hi Davina — Very funny!!!! You really made me LOL!
Emily Dickinson still rocks!
I remember this indeed from Lance’s inspirational Sunday Thoughts. A couple weeks ago? And still think the “cool on pain” line is my favorite for it’s imagery.
I hope we all get inspiration from this to make a difference each in our own ways.
She sure does, Lori!
Hi Jannie,
Welcome to the TLeC community! Sorry I didn’t reply to your comment earlier — it was caught up in my spam filter and I just found it. That is a very neat (almost said cool) phrase, isn’t it? Thank you for sharing your perspective. I knew Lance wouldn’t mind my “stealing” the quote.
Hello everyone. I also enjoyed this quote from Emily Dickinson. There is a wonderful poem on this website if anyone would like to read it – you can reach it by clicking on my name above. The poem was actually written by me…a caregiver while I was caring for my aunt (12 hours a day 7 days a week) who was going through a very difficult battle with cancer. I was having a rough day and had no one to talk to so I wrote, I guess to myself to keep going.