Tuesdays at the Nursing Home- Keeping it Together

The man with no legs keeps a pink pan by his side in the narrow hospital bed. It contains what's left of his life- a church leaflet with his name listed as a member to pray for, a paperback romance someone left behind, three, small yellow legal pads filled with illegible notes he's made about his day-to-day life and two rolls of Scotch tape.

"What's the tape for?" I ask.

He doesn't miss a beat. His eyes twinkle as he says, "That's how I keep it all together!"

When I chuckle and say "Yeah, sure," he shrugs, smiling as if I've seen through him and he's conceding defeat.

"Or maybe," he says, "I use it to patch my broken heart."