Culture Gap by Judith Plant

Author:Judith Plant
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781554201426
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Published: 2017-07-14T04:00:00+00:00

SIX

The First Winter

Fred got sicker and sicker as the weeks and months wore on and by winter he often spent the whole day in bed. Susan was an amazing caregiver. I learned a lot from her about how to be with an ill person, knowledge that would stand me in good stead later in my life. She read to him, or sat quietly by his side; rubbed his feet and hands throughout the day to keep the circulation going; fed him densely nutritious food like “essence of beef,” which she made almost daily for him, and which he often rejected.

Fred’s social life was limited by the amount of energy he had, which Susan knew intimately. Sometimes when one of us hoped for a little time with Fred, we had to leave the room in disappointment. He just couldn’t rise to it, and that was difficult to accept for those used to his company and conversation. Van sat with him a lot, trying to get Fred’s philosophy on paper before it was too late. Amazingly, Fred took up learning ancient Greek over the winter so that he could read the old texts. Scholarly right until the end.

Willie was in every day. I think sometimes that the boy’s energy spilled over into Fred. Out came the ropes, their hands gesticulating this way and that with meaning only the two of them shared. My son learned all kinds of mountaineering tricks at Fred’s sick bed: rappelling, rope tying, rifle cleaning, and outrageous acts like balancing on a mountain ledge while leaning into the wind. I braced myself for these antics while at the same time loving that Willie was exposed to such a rare character. Fred was the grandfather Willie never had, and Willie was the sort of grandson that Fred most likely always wanted for himself.

Susan, of course, was a constant presence in the room. Eleanor said quietly to me one day, as we watched Susan go from the cookshack to the addition with yet another cup of instant coffee in hand, that Susan could really look after him because we were here taking care of her and everything else. It was true. The rest of us completely supported her dedication to Fred, and took over the rest of the tasks on the commune. Susan didn’t have to do any of the daily chores like meal preparation, milking, dishes, firewood, hauling water and so on. I saw this as just the way it should be. She did what she wanted, and her first priority was Fred. Sometimes she was able to turn her attention to the children’s education, and that was welcomed, especially by me. But it was in her role as caregiver where I had the greatest respect for her. She was a model for me.

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We took turns leaving the ranch, usually in pairs. While it was fun to get away, it involved strenuous effort. The mountain pass that we drove in summer and fall was impassable in the winter, so any trips to the valley or to town had to be made on foot down the treacherous trail.

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