Waiting For Bill To Die

Discussion in 'Your Writer's Den' started by gardenfish, Apr 19, 2008.

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  1. gardenfish

    gardenfish New Member

    He is just another old man nearing his end.
    Friends and relatives abound, milling about
    waiting for Bill to die.
    We talk and eat and drink, smile and work and muse
    and then we wait.
    Long ago this good man paid his dues and for decades
    he has silently given more than most.
    Now he is waiting to die and we wait with him.
    A week ago it was said he had two or three days at most.
    Bill is a tough fellow but he has told us he is that it is his time now.
    We cannot prepare for the grief, but we celebrate him while he lives.
    And we are waiting for Bill to die.
     
  2. ToniG

    ToniG Guest

    Hugs and prayers. :-*

    Personally, the waiting game is cruel to all involved. :'(
    I find it much easier to cope if it's instant, but that's just me. :-\
     
  3. gardenfish

    gardenfish New Member

    Toni, know the strife you have suffered your reply sure makes sense.

    Sarita, the waiting gathering was marvelous. There was no anxiety on anyone's part not even Bill's wife. Dear Wife was just there again this afternoon and we think he is easily slipping away into his peace. I hope something like this for all of us.
     
  4. ToniG

    ToniG Guest

    I happy for you and your loved ones. :) I wish we could all sense that peace. :)
     
  5. gardenfish

    gardenfish New Member

    yes, this is one of those things I wish could be bottled and preserved to share with all.
     
  6. Stacey3048

    Stacey3048 New Member

    What a beautiful way to transition from here to the ever after...to be so lucky. May he continue to slip peacefully.

    Loving thoughts and prayers to you all!
    xxxxx
     
  7. Linda1002

    Linda1002 New Member

    I'm sure Bill knows how lucky he is to have you all with him.

    Peace!
     
  8. tm53

    tm53 New Member

    Paul, I enjoyed your piece.

    Wondering, who is Bill to you?
     
  9. gardenfish

    gardenfish New Member

    hmmmm, how to explain. When Dear Wife and I looked at a house to buy part of the attraction was the field behind the house, the barn and the pasture. Seems Bill and his wife had bought all this land over time to preserve it. Otherwise it would now be houses. THe house we bought was owned by their son and his wife. It was a quick and ez decision culminated under a pear tree. Bill and my wife had an immediate attraction and he is the father to her that she never had. When she visits him on his deathbed he perks up and even I can her him exclaim "ah, there you are!". How sweet is that? There is so much more and I hope that answers the question a bit. I promised Joni, Bill's wife that we would take c are of her after he dies. It just feels natural.
    Paul
     
  10. tm53

    tm53 New Member

    Sorry for your loss Paul.

    Tom
     
  11. gardenfish

    gardenfish New Member

    thank you, Tom. I must say that many of us will be fueled by all the good that Bill has done. His legacy is assured.
     
  12. gardenfish

    gardenfish New Member

    Tonight I cooked a meal for those who are waiting.
    Impeding death requires much energy from those who still live.
    Sustenance of every kind is necessary.

    Bill's sons, those strong middle-aged men, are building his coffin.
    I know that tears are mixed with the sawdust, caught in tiny rivulets on the grain of the wood.
    It is difficult for them.
    The old man is fading.
    Their Daddy is leaving.
    They are next, one by one some day down the road and the eternal cycle wheels on.

    It all makes me wonder about my death.
    Shall I celebrate it while I am dying?
    I hope as much because it must be an extraordinary thing.

    He mostly sleeps now, beautiful rose-pink sheets draped over his diminished body.
    The wise grey and white cat sleeps curled against his back.
    How do animals know what to do, how to make things so simple?

    Bill is dying and he is giving us time to say good-bye.
    But then he has always been a gracious man.
    Thank you, Bill. I love you.
    Die well my friend.
     
  13. ToniG

    ToniG Guest

    Awesome.

    But, for me,this part is most powerful;

    "He mostly sleeps now, beautiful rose-pink sheets draped over his diminished body.
    The wise grey and white cat sleeps curled against his back.
    How do animals know what to do, how to make things so simple?"
     
  14. DizzyMel

    DizzyMel New Member

    I think these writings are just about the dearest, sweetest, things that I have ever read.
     
  15. Aladdin

    Aladdin Guest

    in order to die well; you must live well...his life embraced your heart his death will stain it


    hugs/prayers my dear friend...have courage and grace while you wait
     
  16. Aladdin

    Aladdin Guest

    long after your dear friend's physical being fades into the darkness...remember to rekindle (bring to the light) his amazing life...people such as yourself will keep his memory/spirit alive long after his physical being is no more...

    you are a gracious and 'real' man - even in these moments you can express your emotions and feelings...bill's life will forever live thru you and your words...
     
  17. gardenfish

    gardenfish New Member

    Late in the night Joni came to our house, walked right in without knocking.
    She can do that because she is our dear friend, Bill's wife.
    She came to return clean bowls that had earlier been filled with a feast for many.
    Really she came to give to us, to share herself with us, her tears her feelings, her self.
    We kissed her and held her while she talked.
    Dear Wife cried. I stroked Joni's cheeks as softly as I could

    We talked of many things, but we all knew we were full of Bill, his life and his dying.
    He has given us a gift, something to marvel about, and nothing to fear.
    The gift is his death which his is sharing with us.
    The gift is his simple way of living, simple but remarkably replete.
    We will never know all what it entails, only the fraction he can give us.
    Our time will come.
    We will share.
    You will hold us and kiss us, stroke our cheeks softly.
    Then we will go.
     
  18. ToniG

    ToniG Guest

    That brought me to tears. Happy tears for you.

    I am sad, jealous, envious, I never got that sense of peace. But, I am happy for you.
     
  19. gardenfish

    gardenfish New Member

    you are brave and strong, Toni. The peace will come.
     
  20. gardenfish

    gardenfish New Member

    4/24/08 4:23 pm


    Bill's breath comes in furtive gasps, his eyebrows raised in seeming delight.
    But, this is the body letting go.
    I call him sweetheart and leave the room.

    I stand at the end of the kitchen where brown rice cooks in a crock and asparagus awaits roiling steam.
    My view from the window is full of life - wood ducks, all six of them, swim with vigor and purpose in the stream between the house and the barn.
    There at the base of a tall oak grows a small holly.
    A hummingbird is perched on the handle of an upturned garden cart.

    Life does not resume.
    It abides no matter how death attempts to halt it.
     

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