Thelma N. Shutters

HE STOPPED LOVING HER

From Vietnam he came back home
To his wife that he had left alone
He was so healthy in those days
With no idea of the price he’d pay
Agent Orange had not come to light
When him and his wife began to fight
They were so happy in the early years
Then with his affair came many tears
She just never forgave him of his sin
So then their marriage came to an end
With four small children left behind
For Tom there was no peace of mind
So many marriages he went through
He couldn’t stop loving his first love true
He said to me time and time again
“ I wish I never would have sinned”
Agent Orange soon took it’s toll
Then other diseases begin to unfold
Him and his kids never made amends
For neither could they forgive his sin
Even his grandchildren he never seen
Only a tortured life he would receive
His life very slowly went down hill
He kept drinking so he couldn’t feel
For many years he just wasted away
With Agent Orange and sins to be paid
As he lay dying in his hospital room
Waiting for his kids to get there soon
“Their not coming Tom” my brother said
He slowly slipped away there in his bed
So then as the Lord took my brother away
We knew He Stopped Loving Her Today

Author’s Note: Dedicated to Thomas E. Schlup and his Children