Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Susan's Bedroom

I wonder whom Susan is talking to in her bedroom, or whom she thinks she is talking to. I can hear her through the wall as if she is having a conversation with somebody in there. I can’t make out the words that she is saying- only that it is her voice and that she seems calm with a matter- of -fact attitude about this conversation. I hear her clock chiming the music to the Beatle's song Yesterday. I find myself half singing the words from the song that seems so fitting right now:
“Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.
Love was such an easy game to play.
Now I need a place to hide away.
Oh, I believe in yesterday.”

.

Sometimes she talks about Deogracias visiting her when she sleeps. She says that he taps her on the shoulder to get her attention. They often discuss why one of them cannot go where the other one is: heaven and earth, dead and alive. Sometimes he kisses her and tells her he misses her. When she tells us about it the next day we can tell that she misses him too. It seems that her memories are mostly good ones of him and her; the ugly part has disappeared from her brain and is replace by kindness. That is as it should be, I suppose.

Susan may have forgotten, but the rest of us remember well their ups and downs. They now seem so long ago and far away. But the clearer memories of the past remind me of how she stood firm and staunch while they were together; until the day when he was gone and she was alone. Even then she tried to be strong; but looking back it is clear how much she needed him, she just never knew it. Any memory of their separation has mercifully erased itself from her mind. So it may well be that it is He whom she is speaking with in the bedroom. Maybe he has once again come to tell her that he misses her and to ask her to come to him. One day she will, but not today.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Karen, thank you for putting all this into words for us to peek into...
I'm glad God has given you the grace to handle her gently. Gayle

Anonymous said...

Karen, it was hard reading the blogs, I see only the struggles you are putting to words and can barely imagine the ones you don't share. Thank you for expressing through an outlet that gives us the chance to glimpse moments of her life and yours good and bad alike. Mostly thank you for all you do, all you share and your endless compassion.
Stefanie