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Sad At The Sight Of My Friend


willows

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Living in a village like ours you get to meet and talk to all sorts of people in your daily life.

As a writer , and as I write about parts of our village in my books I've always been happy to natter away to all the strange and somewhat 'colourful locals' and ( lets call him A) was one such person.

When I came back here to live almost 7 years ago now A had been a journalist of some world wide distinction , and a bit of a lunatic as well so we hit it off right away .

By the way A is an older person than myself and is always here, there and everywhere he also did some lecturing at the local university in his spare time..............so you get this picture of a person who's active, a bit of a charmer, travels extensively , writes superbly and wants to help other do the same.

Today I went to visit A , he had discovered that the pain in his lower 'guts' ( as he called it) from the 'overabundance of alcohol' he had partaken of in his world travels had caused cancer , so was now he was the proud possessor of a colostomy bag............two weeks after this operation he had a stroke...........then caught this awful flesh eating virus ...........

Today I saw my friend at his new flat in our village in one of those sheltered housing association places , the ones with on-call 24 hour nursing.

He sat so thin and frail like a leaf waiting to be taken up into the sky from a great gust of Autumn wind , to fly without fear to some wonderful land that only leaves of great trees go.

He sat looking at me with eyes that told a thousand tales of exotic places , but unable to speak to recall just one.

He sat with just one leg off to the knee knowing that in the following days his other leg would follow that of the first.

He sat sadly knowing that with all of his wisdom he had forgotten the one thing that mattered to him the most he had ignored ............his health.

To my friend A who I will try to visit as often as I can now to support him in what is left of short life.............I say this.

You have seen what most of us only dream about, and have spoken to giants among men , men who would have never been heard if it wasn't for your voice.

You have seen the begining of life , watched it grown and watched as it was cut down in front of you for no reason other than the selfishness of man.

You have always spoken with truth and honesty and never taken sides in all you have achieved in your writing.

And because of this you never be forgotten as long as I have the strength to put down in words all the brave, stupid, crazy and down right courageous things you have achieved in your life..........you will live in the heart of this village forever.

I am honoured to have known A ..............maybe you have someone like this to , someone who you think is brave, good, true and an honour to have known ?

Willows.

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wilows,

thank you so much for sharing this story. i feel very sad about your friend. good health is so very important. i think there are a lot of people who don't realize that.

i think my grandmom was good, brave and for me it's an honour to be her grandchild. she met my granddad who had tuberculoses, married him and got children during the war. when her children got married and got children of their own there weren't enough houses so two of her children (and their children, me being one of them) moved into their house. meanwhile she lost one of her sons who couldn't deal with life anymore and jumped off a bridge and drawned. she had so very much grief for the rest of her life, still: she was the mom of our family, always knowing everything about everyone and always interested in everyone of her family. one of her great grand children has down's syndrom and she wrote a special poem for him. after she had open heart surgery a few years ago, she called me and said that she felt so sad that she was doing great again and that i still was so sick. she encouraged her children (my uncles and aunts) to call me more often. we all are part of her and she was very very proud of all of us. when she died this year we all lost the most important person in our family.

corina :blink:

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Yes Corina your right .

Another wonderful person who through your words will not be forgotten.

You must be very proud to have not only been a member of her family but to have known her and loved her so much.............may she rest in peace and happiness knowing you have achieved so much with your life. Willows.

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I too know the devastation a stroke can leave behind. I cried while reading your post, my dad who now lives with us had a massive stroke a few years ago. His once vibrant life has been taken away from him, leaving him paralyzed to depend on others for every task possible. He retired from General Motors, only to have his life as he knew it taken away a few weeks later. Not the retirement he had planned :D

Of course I thank god that he is still with us, I just wanted to let you know I feel your pain.

God bless

((Hugs))

Sue

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Hello Sue.

The one thing you can at least hold on to was that he had some wonderful years at work doing what he loved best, and of course with you his daughter and possibly family?

Not all stroke victims are capable of communication but they do understand and I'm sure if he could tell you himself he would say how much he admires and loves you for taking him into your home and making him part of the family , a thing not all children do for their parents.

You are a wonderful person to dedicate your time to him .

Thinking of you all , god bless and keep you Willows. :)

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thanks willows

yes he lives with my husband and I, two teenagers, all my pets and of course my mom!! Big happy family going on here :)

We are blessed for all that was taken away from him, his communication skills are quite good. He forgets alot and gets confused but he has not forgotten his favorite phrase... COFFEE!!!! lol the man loves his coffee. :P

thanks for writing back

((Hugs))

Sue

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What a wonderful family you have , and your dad is a man of my own heart Sue..........even when I'm on my knees in pain the first thing I can mouth is ............coffee.

Nectar in a cup, instant, ground or even ............shhhhhh coffee chocolate !

Willows.

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