Requiem for life

I am 75, 80, 90 or more ... I'm an old person ... I'm not sick, just a little tired, worn out by life... Life escapes from my body.

I'm an old person who loves, breathes, thinks, sees, listens. Finally, who has the same needs as you ... So, when you come to my room, talk to me, preserve my modesty, give me something to drink. If you put me to bed, don't forget to remove the pins from my bun, put a ribbon on my mat, don't leave creases to my nightgown or sheets. If I'm soiled, don't growl, change me, you'll see when you get my age... When I've finished my meal, help me get back to bed, don't forget to remove the crumbs that have fallen in my bed. If you help me to eat, be patient...

After, above all, do not forget me, if you walk in front of my door, stop for a few moments, I do not like being alone for a long time. Come change my position, know if I need more coverage or if you need to remove it. Don't border me like a mummy. Watch the sun, it bothers me sometimes.

Give me a drink and talk, talk to me... I am an old person, but I still live, I hear you talking: of you, of others, of me sometimes, speak to me...

Touch me, my skin is old, but it still needs human warmth, it has given so much to my children, my grandchildren and, perhaps, will give to my great-grandchildren... Think about it and ask them to come and see me. I'm an old person, but I still can love them, touch them, see them, breathe them, kiss them. Help them stay by my side without saying anything, holding my hands. They will understand everything I think, or what I want to tell them... Goodbye maybe... I am an old person and, for this great journey, I am afraid of everything, of what is happening around me, of what I cannot express, of what you will not be able to understand, and I am very afraid of suffering. Calm my pains, but keep me  lucid until the end of the road. Hold my hand, caress me, moisten my lips, style me, make me beautiful as if for a party. Isn't my death my birth upside down? Give me back what I had that day... A lot of love ...

You are an old person... Excuse me, I know you so well that I took your place to write these few lines.

Elisabeth, geriatric assistant in Périgueux (France)

Excerpt from MCR "New Essor" magazine 257 from December 2014