It would have been an unforgettable date and time to smoke the last one and I could have answered the question impressively fast, : "So how long have you been off them?"
"Since eleven times five." I'd say forcing some return thinking time back onto the interrogator.
Anyway I am on cigarette number four which is great going for this time of day.
It is really veteran's day, not 'me giving up smoking day' so I want to put out a few words.
My friend Nancy, an artist, died five years ago at the age of eigthy. Her husband Conor had allocated me the job of giving her lunch several times a week while he took some time to go off and do things elsewhere. She needed someone with her all the time, as she was suffering from Parkinson's. To me, it wasn't so much a job as a privilege. They were the two most wonderful people I had met in a long time. I was allowed to write and study in the dining room and she would call if she needed me. I also sat with her while she watched TV, always an interesting documentary.
One day she told me about her brothers. They were both killed in North Africa during the second world war. She had been very close to them and she said that she had never gotten over it.
She then handed me her biography. It was strange reading details of her life with her right there beside me. She told me that she had to make a choice between music and art as a career, and it was difficult because she loved them both equally. I asked her why couldn't she have done both. The answer was that if you are going to do something, it is important to put your all into it. I have been trying ever since to live by that. It is easier said than done in my case.
One day I fell asleep reading in the chair. Nancy woke me up and told me to go and take a walk. I went out into the chilly December air, walked around the pond and found myself in a wooded clearing. I was focusing at the ground careful not to trip on something, and on looking up saw two of the most enormous deer standing there right in front of me. When they saw me they bolted and jumped over an immense fence. It was an incredible sight.
I thought about it afterwards for days and weeks. Then one day I took my dog to the woods and came across a beautiful sculpture of a young buck. As I put my hand up to touch it, guess what, it bolted. Louis, the dog, ran straight after him and when he came back an hour later, he was totally covered in mud. I can only guess at where he'd been.
Deer seemed to go hand in hand with this couple. She was an artist of landscapes, abstract and earthy and he a sculptor of wild animals. Both were extremely talented at their respective crafts. It made me feel very strongly that when you're in the company of certain types of people, the experiences become entwined. My experiences with Conor and Nancy were very magical. They were both very warm and loving, and I took something away from both of them and that was to have witnessed a couple truly in love. Conor died within a year of Nancy even though he was 20 years younger. He had lung cancer but was diagnosed too late.
Even though I am sad that I only had a relatively short time knowing them, I would have had a greater loss having never known them at all.
This is what veteran's day has conjured up for me. A remembrance of two very special people.
"Since eleven times five." I'd say forcing some return thinking time back onto the interrogator.
Anyway I am on cigarette number four which is great going for this time of day.
It is really veteran's day, not 'me giving up smoking day' so I want to put out a few words.
My friend Nancy, an artist, died five years ago at the age of eigthy. Her husband Conor had allocated me the job of giving her lunch several times a week while he took some time to go off and do things elsewhere. She needed someone with her all the time, as she was suffering from Parkinson's. To me, it wasn't so much a job as a privilege. They were the two most wonderful people I had met in a long time. I was allowed to write and study in the dining room and she would call if she needed me. I also sat with her while she watched TV, always an interesting documentary.
One day she told me about her brothers. They were both killed in North Africa during the second world war. She had been very close to them and she said that she had never gotten over it.
She then handed me her biography. It was strange reading details of her life with her right there beside me. She told me that she had to make a choice between music and art as a career, and it was difficult because she loved them both equally. I asked her why couldn't she have done both. The answer was that if you are going to do something, it is important to put your all into it. I have been trying ever since to live by that. It is easier said than done in my case.
One day I fell asleep reading in the chair. Nancy woke me up and told me to go and take a walk. I went out into the chilly December air, walked around the pond and found myself in a wooded clearing. I was focusing at the ground careful not to trip on something, and on looking up saw two of the most enormous deer standing there right in front of me. When they saw me they bolted and jumped over an immense fence. It was an incredible sight.
I thought about it afterwards for days and weeks. Then one day I took my dog to the woods and came across a beautiful sculpture of a young buck. As I put my hand up to touch it, guess what, it bolted. Louis, the dog, ran straight after him and when he came back an hour later, he was totally covered in mud. I can only guess at where he'd been.
Deer seemed to go hand in hand with this couple. She was an artist of landscapes, abstract and earthy and he a sculptor of wild animals. Both were extremely talented at their respective crafts. It made me feel very strongly that when you're in the company of certain types of people, the experiences become entwined. My experiences with Conor and Nancy were very magical. They were both very warm and loving, and I took something away from both of them and that was to have witnessed a couple truly in love. Conor died within a year of Nancy even though he was 20 years younger. He had lung cancer but was diagnosed too late.
Even though I am sad that I only had a relatively short time knowing them, I would have had a greater loss having never known them at all.
This is what veteran's day has conjured up for me. A remembrance of two very special people.
very beautiful tribute!
ReplyDeleteThanks Katley! Sorry for the delay in replying.
ReplyDelete