When I Met Stan ©2006 David M Butcher a poem written and recited by David M. Butcher
It was a cold gray day, the day that I met Stan. We were sittin’ in a bus stop, he was a sad young man. He said that he was ready to try and end his life. He was tired and alone, he had just lost his wife. She was the light of my days, he said all forlorn. The day that they had met felt like the day that he was born. He had come to this city to lay her in the ground. Her family lived near here, now he was homeward bound. He wasn’t looking forward to going there alone, To live in that old house that they had once called home. And so he was considering the taking of his life, Cause he could not imagine going on without his wife. We were interrupted then by a call to board the bus. We didn’t even notice a young couple sat near us. As Stan told his story they listened with intent, Even while the miles flew by as down the road we went. She had always made him laugh, and let him be himself. He had thought, not even once, she would ever lose her health. They were in their twenties, lived full and active lives, And she was never in the wrong, at least not in his eyes. Apparently she had him fooled as everything turned out. She had taken lots of drugs when he was not about. Then one day while eating lunch she toppled to the floor. He found her there one moment after walking through the door. Had he been home instead of working on that fateful day, It would have been no different or so the doctors say. She had taken drugs over many months and years, Her heart had simply worked too hard, and now she had no tears. How could he not have seen what she was doing then? He was with her every day knowing who, and what, and when! His friends never knew it either, they were as surprised. And all of them had wondered, did it not show in her eyes? How had his wife been able to hide this sin for years? The answer, plain and simple, he had sheltered all her fears.	Each day she lived with him, he saw her just the same, And never saw her sober, never really knew her name It was only two days after she was dead and gone, Her brother came to tell him just what was going on. Her family had thought it best to keep it all inside, And never let the public know the secret they did hide. Now that she was buried and he was headed home. The burden of her passing and of being all alone, Was tearing at his heart and soul, he had to get it out, Else he was sure that his death too, would surely come about. I nodded and I told him that all of this would pass. I too had lost a wife way back in the past. I had thought my life was at it’s very end. But then I found my Lord and he took me round the bend. I told him he could always know that everything was good. Peace, love, and joy could all be his, they really, really could! He doubted me, he couldn’t see how there could really be, A God of love, he said, when all I have is me. Did my God not take his wife, and send her straight to hell, And leave him wishing that there was a real wishing well, To bring her back into his life and make ev’ry little thing, Okay again and back to norm, so he could dance and sing. Sometimes I said, He let’s us all make our own mistakes. He guides us in this way, to follow is all it takes. Your wife chose to take a road that led her to her death. You are now at a fork, will you choose right or left? One road can take you down the very same old path, That led your wife to take her drugs and live a life so fast. One can take you to the top, let you live out all your dreams, My loving God can do it all no matter how it seems. I tell you this and know it’s true cause I was where you are. My loving wife lost her life when she had wrecked her car. I felt the same as you do now, thought my dreams were lost. I wanted all the pain to stop no matter what the cost.	Then I met a man who knew what I am telling you. He told me of his God, said that was all that he could do. He sat with me, and said a prayer, and watched me while I cried. Then helped me find myself for years while he looked on with pride. That was twenty years ago and I can tell you this, Not every day that you live will be full of bliss, But day by day and week by week I know that you can learn, To just be happy regardless, so you don’t crash and burn. The woman sitting right behind just had to have her say, She told Stan that her man had left her just that way. Her simple story did confirm that what I said was true, He would only have to learn, instead of being blue. The choice is really yours the blonde went on to say, It is a choice that we make each and every day. You can choose just how to live, to be happy, or be blue. The kind of life that you have is surely up to you. The couple that had sat so close now had to intervene. They wanted to avoid a similar kind of scene. He admitted he took drugs each and every day, And he would dearly love to stop if we could show the way. He had overheard the story, how Stan’s wife had died. Now he prayed to God and thanked Him for this ride. Stan knew now that he could help a fellow human being, He knew this man would need his special point of seeing. It turned out that they lived so very close to Stan, They agreed that it might help to hold each other’s hand. As we left the bus we confessed and thanked the man above, For bringing all of us together, for showing us His love. The last time that I saw him Stan was happy as a lark. He had earned a lot of money, gave his city a new park. The couple he had tried to help helped him become brand new, And helping others is the part that each of us can do.