Remember Me? by Andrew Noble

Author:Andrew Noble
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Dementia, Alzheimer's, family, loneliness, thought-provoking, virtues, helpfulness, caring, thoughtful, tales, elderly, independence, memories, inspirational, recollections, reminiscences, faith, hope, charity, prudence, temperance, restraint, justice, courage
ISBN: 9780722347942
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2018
Published: 2018-04-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Two

As was the case with every visit, they were welcomed warmly at the side door to a long single-storey building, pre-war in its dated design.

To enhance this tired effect, there were faded orange curtains tied back at the corner of every window, and the sealing putty was a bit patchy on some window frames, causing them to tinkle and tremble in this particular day’s bad weather.

Coats, scarves and Arthur’s cap were taken away to be dried and warmed over a nearby radiator, and the care attendant asked, as she always did, if they would like tea. Usually - and Pat spoke for both of them - the answer was negative; however, today was different. Yes, tea would be lovely. Could they have it together, all three of them?

“Of course,” beamed the carer. “I’ll bring it in for you.”

The room was neither big nor small, but what it was, no matter the season, was cold. It had stood the test of time, yet seemed so flimsy, with wafer-thin walls to the outside, that any passing hungry wolf could have huffed and puffed and blown it all down without a problem. As it was, this was all that could be provided and funded by the council, and so it had been for a long time.

There was a single bed and a bedside table with an angle poise lamp on it, and opposite the bed was a small table placed against the window wall with three dining chairs tucked in underneath it.

A high-backed armchair faced the window from the other side of the bed, and sat in it, twisted by age and paralysis, and spurred by bitter hatred and contempt for life, was Simon, Pat and Arthur’s fifty-two-year-old son.

Anger without definition or perimeters is the most consuming, pointless, and yet most intense form of the emotion you can find. Without being aware of it, this was what Simon had fostered and grown with for the past number of years. He could not conceive or gauge the emotion, but he knew its fire, and drew on that heat for any required energy.

Along the window sill were a collection of things, all from years gone by. Birthdays and Christmases had been punctuated with gifts for Simon, which ranged from a once-upon-a-time golden fluffy teddy bear, now faded and in parts a bit bald, to a Rubik’s cube, as yet unfinished. There was a faux-leather camel, a present from Morocco one year, when Pat and Arthur had ventured to Agadir in search of winter sun only to find upset tummies instead. As a result, they had stuck to Devon since then, opting for a week-long late spring holiday. A long weekend in October to see the lights at Blackpool broke up the remainder of the year, and was nowadays about as much as they could afford.

Arthur picked up a small Corgi-brand toy car, and, holding it in his hand, could remember back to when he had tried, and failed, to get Simon to play with it.

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