Monday Musings: The father’s Son
He was glued to the screen as the ECG monitor showed a straight line. It did not pass his attention that this is the irony of life. All our lives we seek the comfort of straight lines – of continuities and predictabilities, without realising that the straight line is actually the end. His father, lying there had lived a full life.
Nothing prepares us for any kind of mortality, particularly of our parents. We don’t want to think about it – a...nd by avoiding thinking about it we delude ourselves into believing that the scare has gone away. It’s the last test of growing up in a sense which none of us want to appear for.
He was glued to the screen as the ECG monitor showed a straight line. It did not pass his attention that this is the irony of life. All our lives we seek the comfort of straight lines – of continuities and predictabilities, without realising that the straight line is actually the end. His father, lying there had lived a full life.
Nothing prepares us for any kind of mortality, particularly of our parents. We don’t want to think about it – a...nd by avoiding thinking about it we delude ourselves into believing that the scare has gone away. It’s the last test of growing up in a sense which none of us want to appear for.
A week in the hospital is a long time. It is a crash course in the lessons of life. Things start to make more sense; the jigsaw falls into its place. Our egos become more visible. Our concerns reveal themselves to be too petty. As he sat there, he realised, perhaps in more ways than ever, what permanent absence means. Separation was not new to him – this however was a permanent separation.
Loss is a strange companion. It gnaws at your soul constantly even when the task of living must go on. He wondered if he could shoulder this burden.
As he sat alone in his grief and dealt with the question of his own capacity to deal with this burden, he remembered the last lines of his father only a week back when they were moving him to the hospital. ‘’In case something happens to me ensure the grandson gets married next month on schedule as if I am there’’. He realised that the father had dealt with his burden of imminent end with fortitude, grace and wisdom. If nothing, he was his father’s son.
It was difficult to smile for him given the situation. He was sure, however, that the father was smiling.
www.gurucharangandhi.com
www.mondaymusingsbyguru.blogspot.com
Loss is a strange companion. It gnaws at your soul constantly even when the task of living must go on. He wondered if he could shoulder this burden.
As he sat alone in his grief and dealt with the question of his own capacity to deal with this burden, he remembered the last lines of his father only a week back when they were moving him to the hospital. ‘’In case something happens to me ensure the grandson gets married next month on schedule as if I am there’’. He realised that the father had dealt with his burden of imminent end with fortitude, grace and wisdom. If nothing, he was his father’s son.
It was difficult to smile for him given the situation. He was sure, however, that the father was smiling.
www.gurucharangandhi.com
www.mondaymusingsbyguru.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment