...to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free....

25 January, 2012

loving a person with dementia has taught me:





"Life will break you.  Nobody can protect you from that, 
and living alone won't either, 
for solitude will also break you with its yearning.  
You have to love.  You have to feel.  It is the reason you are here on earth.  
You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up.  
And when it happens that you are broken, 
or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, 
let yourself sit by an apple tree 
and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness.  
Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could. "

                  Louise Erdrich,  from The Painted Drum



10 comments:

  1. I marvel at what makes us rich.
    Love you,
    Barbara

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  2. What an absolutely eloquent way of putting it into words. Beautiful.

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  3. Mike, great words! I can relate!

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  4. Oh dear...........how very many of us understand this......all to well....

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  5. This is a beautiful post, Mike. Thank you.

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  6. Dear Mike,
    Thank you for sharing this poignant wisdom with us.

    Peace.

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  7. This is so touching. I've been writing about dementia as part of my new book on ageing, and I know how heart-breaking it can be. The quote is beautiful.

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  8. To all my good readers: Thanks for your warm responses to this post. When I read this piece awhile ago in Erdrich's book, I felt it was a beautiful articulation of something real and universal. I am happy to learn that it touched a chord in many of you. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Your comments are certain support in our journey here. ;o)

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  9. Beautiful and sad. The happiest older people are those who have been helping others all of their lives. ;-)

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