Life is Cruel

Posted on by Reena Saxena

How I wish he had died sooner!

The old man suffers from the onset of dementia, and is hardly connected to the world outside. All old memories are fiercely alive, and his retelling of tales sometimes embarrasses people in his vicinity. The layers of tact and diplomacy and social intelligence have worn off, long ago. Other than past memories, he is intensely focussed on his immediate physical needs, to the exclusion of everything else. It does not exactly endear him to his caregivers.

The one intelligence which has remained intact is medical. He  was a renowned doctor once, often referred to as a legend in his field. He has seen fame and success. Give him a medical report, and he can still analyse it and give the right medical advice. He instructs his caregivers to do things in a particular way, with sound medical logic.

If he had died sooner, at his peak, the world would have remembered him in a positive manner. These images of senility and dementia, bordering on insanity would never have occurred to anyone. The story of his life would have been unblemished.

Life is infinitely cruel at times. It takes away labor of a lifetime.

(200 words)

 

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8 thoughts on “Life is Cruel”

  1. Dementia is a scary thing and it’s heartbreaking to see loved ones suffering from it. It’s hard to remember how they were before the illness changed them into people we hardly recognize. It would be nice if we could remember them only for how they used to be. Touching and very sad story, Reena.

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  2. There is truth in this. We are often remembered only by our resent past, and a single mistake or event of our lives. This is true in life and in death. Well done, Reena

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