Jacques continues to soldier on.
When I visited this morning, his sister-in-law Marcia insisted that he be awakened to see me.
His mouth was very dry and he struggled to drink from a straw before I gave him the tiniest sliver of the communion host.
Like a small child, he has been reduced to monosyllabic communication.
It is heart breaking to watch someone die.
Desperately looking for something to lighten the pall that hangs over his room, I noticed a large silver serving spoon on the night table beside his bed.
“What’s this for?, I asked.
“Banging”, replied Jacques, gasping for air.
Just then, Marcia came into the room.
“He raps that against the bedrail when he needs help. Apparently he thinks the service here is a little slow at times,” she offered in a friendly tone. Marcia est vraiment un ange.
Jake cracked a little smile, his eyes flickering briefly with his trademark impish look.
It was soon time to go and I knew I had to say my final goodbyes. As much as I tried to steel myself, I was a puddle as I left.
Thank goodness the family had a full dispenser of Bounty towels ( the quicker picker uppers) in the kitchen.
As luck would have it, when I returned home at noon, there was a message on the phone from Father Mike asking about Jacques.
“Father, he may not last the weekend,” I informed him glumly.
“All the closer to the Resurrection my son,” he replied.
How true.
Keeping the faith….Mike 2.0
No comments:
Post a Comment