Do you remember those choose your own adventure books from when you were a kid? I loved those books, the possibilities were seamlessly endless. The princess runs off with the pirate. A magic spell is broken. The mystery is solved. Although I have to admit I often cheated, scanning ahead to see which combination would bring about the storyline that I found most appealing. Sometimes I wish that I could apply one of those books to life, to look ahead and pick the chapters that make me the happiest. But life isn’t like that. Brilliant observation, I know.
As I wrote in my earlier posts, my mom survived a ruptured aneurysm this summer. After intensive care, post surgical recovery, time in a nursing home, and then moving in with me for a short while she is finally “recovered”. What I haven’t told you is that my father is also dying. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer in 2003, and on top of that this past November suffered a stroke. While my mom improves, my dad is slipping away. The intersection of their respective situations is moving, perplexing, and fills me with emotions that I can’t reach yet.
As I wrote in my earlier posts, my mom survived a ruptured aneurysm this summer. After intensive care, post surgical recovery, time in a nursing home, and then moving in with me for a short while she is finally “recovered”. What I haven’t told you is that my father is also dying. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer in 2003, and on top of that this past November suffered a stroke. While my mom improves, my dad is slipping away. The intersection of their respective situations is moving, perplexing, and fills me with emotions that I can’t reach yet.
I grew up in an extremely creative family. Both of my parents were saturated with artistic talent. Through the years, due to health and age, both of them have been robbed of the things they love to do. My mom lost a significant portion of her eyesight to macular degeneration. No longer able to sew, paint, or read her books. My dad finally realized his dream of the perfect workshop, now left to sit and look at it out the window crippled by his disease. It reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode with Burgess Meredith, ‘Time Enough at Last’ from 1959. A humble bank teller and book lover that finds himself the last man on earth after a nuclear war. He has all the time in the world now to read his precious books, but he breaks his glasses, and is left alone and without a means to access his passion. To quote his character, "That's not fair... that's not fair at all... There was time now.... There was all the time I needed! It's not fair". (Check out this link for the full episode) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6ClcI5nTs8