Doujon's Heart by Greg Callaghan

Author:Greg Callaghan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2015-07-29T04:00:00+00:00

Rosemarie hears back from Poppy that her speech went down exceedingly well, after being translated into Greek by Kosta. In fact, the evening was a huge success overall, with the monies raised going to a Greek children’s charity.

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Christmas 2008 is a sombre affair in the Zammit household. There are no decorations. Rosemarie throws away all the cards that come. She doesn’t want painful reminders of Christmases past when the family was all together. She knows this is extreme but has no stomach for the festive season or the kind of huge extended family affairs the Zammits are accustomed to. Eventually she hopes to welcome the spirit of Christmas back into their home, but for now it is too soon to contemplate any such thing. She and Oliver put on brave faces on Christmas morning with just Oliver’s parents and Rosemarie’s mother Iris in attendance.

Perhaps to make up for their mournful Christmas, as the new year approaches the family decides on a diversion—they remove themselves for a few days from Cecil Hills in Sydney’s far west to Coogee in the city’s east. They wake in the mornings to the sound of the surf rolling up the sand and dine each night in one of the many casual eateries along Coogee Bay Road. A few friends—such as Rosemarie’s great mate Margie—make the long journey to dine with them and help in this new effort at distraction. To an extent it works. Oliver and the boys frolic in the sea and Rosemarie does what she can to put the Doujon blues behind her in this funky beachside suburb.

But fate has another nasty little surprise up its sleeve. Just a few days into their holiday Rosemarie receives a call from her brother Tony to say that their mother, who has been living with dementia in a retirement village for a decade, is not well. The Zammits cut short their beach holiday and head home.

At eighty-three, the old woman lights up when she sees the family come into her room—her grandsons have always been such a joy to her. But it is obvious she needs more care than the retirement village can provide at this time. Deeply alarmed by her physical condition, Rosemarie calls an ambulance. When the ambulance men arrive Rosemarie leans in to give her mother a kiss, to tell her they will be following behind in their car. In Maltese, Iris—known affectionately as Flossy—whispers, ‘Ghandek qalbek tajba.’ You have a good heart.

Rosemarie melts. It is a moment she will treasure. Flossy is nearing the end of her road. A doctor rather bluntly informs Rosemarie that her mother will not be leaving the hospital, and the Zammits, for what feels like the thousandth time, regard each other through tears.

For the next few days Rosemarie, Oliver and Tony keep vigil at the bedside. The Zammits sleep on chairs while Tony creates a makeshift bed out of cushions on the floor. There is a procession of relatives who come to say goodbye, walking in with smiles, leaving in tears.

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