A prayer for making a difference

I was thinking that once someone, an old boyfriend?

 My young husband?

Once told me  “You make me want to be a better person”

I saw it written out in cursive handwriting

On a card with hearts, a valentine

Or maybe it was a birthday

Then I realized it was Jack Nicholson who said it

To Helen Hunt in the movie

“As good as it gets”

Damn  - I laughed out loud

And yet there is  a sense of regret

Of wishing to leave a mark

But maybe I failed

Do people notice me at 7 am

Walking my old dogs up the street at a very slow pace

And do they miss me when I don’t ?

Is it the staying home 

The anonymity of wearing a mask, my lipsticked lips 

Leaving a mark on the inside

Is this why I wonder about my mark in the world

Maybe people go through life not knowing

If they made life good for someone

Then, I think of 135,000 people in the US

And many more in the world

Dead of Covid 19

And I know there is a big big hole

In the lives of those who loved them

May we never stop trying to be the one

Who makes others want to be better