Shadow People

By Karen Schoeppach

Shadow People

There are some people in our lives who will become……………shadows

They are still here, but….they are shadows of who they once were

The child so full of life and the love of learning……..becomes a shadow after drugs or alcohol causes them

to fade away

The soldier who has seen so many horrors

They haven’t the strength to keep fighting the demons of the mind and

They become a shadow of themselves

The parent, the spouse, that loved one who becomes lost in the depths of their own mind

All there is to be seen

is a shadow of the person

we love

How we wish others could see

the person they once were

How we pray that we may somehow

pull them out of the shadow

bring them back to us

We can’t

The child and the soldier must decide to take the first steps

on their own

We can only support them

and love them

Those who are lost in the depths of their own minds

can sometimes come out

With special help

But for the ones who will live as a shadow

For whom there is no way back

We can only remember the person they were

And love them……..just love them

God do You see us when we become shadows of who we once were?

Of course, You do.

Give us the strength to come back if we can.

Hold us close if there is no way back.

If some in our lives are shadow people, help us love them.

Without becoming shadow people, ourselves.

Amen.