Identity

I know this is a little unfocused still... but I wanted to post it as a WIP anyways.

Identity

We go on health kicks

To preserve our bodies
To stave off illness
To deny death.
 
We accumulate so much stuff
So many 'time-saving' devices
That we think we can't live without
Not even for the weekend--
(Take away my cell phone-- Hell, no!)
 
We say we are what we eat
We say we are our occupations
Or we say that 'at heart'
We are our hobbies
(I'm a vegan.  I'm a teacher.  I'm an artist.)
 
And it's rare to find someone
Who is not identified
By the job they do or
The money they make
 
Why are we so afraid
To define ourselves
By what really matters:
Relationships
Would it really be so terrible
For the teen to be "Wanda's Daughter",
For the man to just be "Erin's Husband",
Or for the forty-two-year old to be "Grandma",
Not "Glam-ma"?
 
I confess:
I used to hate that.
I wanted to be my own person.
Now I'm not so sure.
 
Better to be known
As part of the people I love
Than by a job.
Eventually, I'll retire from the job
But even when I'm dead and gone
My family will keep me in their hearts
Until we meet again in Heaven