It's a long good-bye. A terribly long good-bye. Emphasis on "terrible." While the diagnosis of Alzheimer's was not a surprise, the knowledge hasn't made things easier. Five times in almost as many minutes she asked, "Oh, is it my birthday today?" After asking me why I had called. Again. The time is soon coming when forgetting her birthday will be the least of my sadness. I know. I've read the articles, listened to the seasoned experts, the ones who've lost their loved ones to this, the most vicious of diseases...at least to the survivors. It is a disease that inflicts more pain and suffering on those who do not have it. It is a disease that prolongs the painful good-bye of death for far too many years. Each time I hang up the phone, I know, not much longer and there will be no more phone calls. The woman who loved me more than any other, apart from God, will be here in body only. Had I not been schooled diligently in Christ's school of suffering before now, I would not understand. But I know. He has a plan. This suffering will not be for nothing. This long good-bye will serve a purpose, probably an eternal one. But for now, it is simply an education. A painful one at that.
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