Loving, Living, Ageing, and Dying
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“Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” — George Bernard Shaw
I visited my Sponsor one morning before sunrise, and we talked about loving, living, ageing, and dying.
I’d been out of communication with Mammy Dear for over a month after calling back and forth and leaving messages without response. I knew something was wrong and decided to visit her one morning before sunrise. When I arrived at the door, I heard faint voices from within and pushed slowly. Our eyes met from across the hall, and she gave a welcoming smile spread across a somewhat tired face.
“Bill, welcome, son. I’ve missed you. Sorry I didn’t remember to let you know I was travelling, and I know you’ve tried reaching me. I just arrived last night. My husband have been sick, as you know but, it got worse, and we had to leave the country. But God’s good. I’m glad we’re back here now”, she said. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear. And welcome back ma’am” I said.
I joined her at the dining table with Mr. Dauphin, her husband, scripts of tablets spread across, a sphygmomanometer, a dosette box, a pot of porridge, and a cup of Lipton tea. I greeted him, and he responded but, his speech didn’t come out as it was his current condition. I sat quietly and watched him try to hold a conversation with the words barely being audible yet she responded quite well. She passed the tablets across the table to him and asked him to arrange each into the dosette box per day. His Blood Pressure read high but, he refused to take pills that morning. She begged him to take the ones for Prostate Cancer and Nausea, the only two he agreed to. And she sat back and smiled. She explained the importance of the fifteen plus different medicines like a doctor and why he should take them. She was patient with him.
She refused to show her frustration in that moment of despair when he refused to take the medication. She was tired and depressed. She had been singlehandedly taking care of him for over a month 24/7 in a hospital, barely sleeping for 2 hours a day. She was there giving him hope and care, love, and patience. I…
