Mama sent me this photo of her and her brother and I just had to put it in my blog, even if that SHITSU…er…Shih Tzu, is there about to be cuddled at any moment by mama, I’m sure. Because I know that mama and papa fell for Cookie (that’s the DOGGY) when they met her years ago and falling in love with her ain’t gonna change, no way, no how!
Mama’s brother is in a really nice home for those who are drifting away, slowly but surely, and although it is a very lovely place, mama says, it is where he will be from now on and will not be back to see his beloved house and land and stream nearby, nor his magnificent clusters of oak trees, nor his little wild kitty cats who came one day and just stayed on under the porch, nor his workshop full of handmade molds for antique toy Britannia soldiers, nor his collection of thousands of soldiers he cast and painted by hand–myriad tableaux of war scenes, battles, unforgettable moments in history that he captured by crafting little replicas in lead of the soldiers and their leaders who made those moments happen.
He will not be mowing the sweet grasses that come up around the houses, for there are two, the main house and a rustic cottage for guests. Grasses dotted with wild flowers that he and his wife planted so long ago. He will not be driving his old jeep over to the goats at feeding time, for the goats have been sold and live elsewhere, and he will not be seeing the deer families coming down to feed on the other side of a little stream that runs through the property. Mama says he had a little vegetable garden, surrounded by a protective fence, in which at one time he grew artichokes, tomatoes, squash and herbs, but it has long since gone to weeds because mama’s sister-in-law cannot keep up the grounds easily without help, and the garden was a little luxury in drought-stricken Texas.
Mama and papa watched “The Thirteenth Warrior” with him, because he was a West Pointer, an army man through and through, and loved movies like “Gunga Din” and “Zulu” and series like Ken Burns “The Civil War” and the old “Victory at Sea.”
Mama said that they could share movies together, and nice little lunches and dinners, and that just to hug him and let him know that she and papa would be there with him when they could and help make sure with all the others that he would have everything he needs and to be support for mama’s and papa’s sister-in-law and then…there is not much more that anyone can do.
A terrible disease, the loss of a mind, and a creative, extraordinary one at that. Mama says that her brother could recite whole poems by Kipling and passages from much literature and that he remembered dates and events in history as no other person she has ever known could do, let alone remembering the details and events of his own life back to early childhood. He was in university at 15, West Point at 18, and then Viet Nam and a full-time army career for years after that until retirement.
Even in his deteriorating state, he will often quote in Russian and German and Czech, the latter learned at a very young age so that he could listen in on mama’s and his grandmother gossiping on the phone with her Czech friends!
I wish I could be there, too, along with Mervin, so that mama’s brother would have us both to make him smile. Along with Cookie, of course.
We don’t want him ever to forget how to smile…
Cookie, where is LOULOU?
Suzanne, it is sad and hard to watch a loved one losing their self, little by little, but they never really lose their whole self, because all the wonderful things they did in their life, still happened, still made the world better, especially if they loved animals like your brother did and does. I believe that they pass on their memories to loved ones,to you to keep safe for them forever. Precious glimpses into a beautiful life.
Looks like he is in a wonderful place now and it’s lovely that you can be there with him.
See Loulou, those folks of yours, they don’t just go out eating and chatting up other kitties when they leave you behind, they do important loving things too
Luff
Mungo
& Jane xx
Oh, Mungo, how beautifully put and I know mama feels really touched by your words. It’s true that those memories are kept alive by all those around the person leaving…and if he had met me, he would have really loved me, too. Maybe in another of my lives….
How sweet your mom and her brother are so close and she is there for him and his wife. Family is important. No wonder your mom and pop are able to leave you to go to visit him. Hope they have a marvelous time together!
Well, I would like to be there too, but they have saved me from what I have heard is a horrific trauma on those giant birds that go vrommmm, vrommmm up in the sky.
I’m not sure I could tolerate that very well. I know mama isn’t great with it, so I have company, haha. I’ll hold the fort, knowing they are not just out gallivanting all over the place without me.