I visit him in the nursing home every week. He’s in the lunchroom now, his food untouched, diligently filling in coloring book outlines with crayons. He no longer recognizes me.
“Are you here to eat or to color?” he asks.
“To color,” I say as I sit close beside him.
Alex thinks that most nursing homes are simply repositories for human flotsam.
I love this.
Me too. Touched me deeply
I really enjoyed your 50 words. I found it gently touching. It’s a gift when you can place a feeling in someone’s hands with a few words. You have set the bar high, Well done and thank you.
Great comment. I’m 100 percent. with you
Your story’s good but what you think about Homes for the elderly is puerile. One day you’ll find out why..
I believe some of the response to Alex’s bio statement depends on how you interpret the word “flotsam,” and the rest of the response depends on whether you take him to be commenting on his own view of the residents, or on the homes’ view of their residents.
Flotsam is the most appropriate word to apply here–the floating wreckage of the ship called life
You’ll find out why too. It’s only the matter of time
I agree. A stupid thing to say but let’s judge the work not the writer, eh?
Thanks, C.B., Brandy, and Will for your comments about my story. But I hold to my statement about most nursing homes. I’ve visited a number of people in such homes. And recently, after a fall and surgery, I spent six weeks in a home where they mixed physical rehab patients with permanent residents. The latter would sit all day in the dining room, neglected, staring dumbly at a TV or into space. The only attention they received was when they became noisy and agitated. My roommate, for example, was allowed to sleep perhaps 22 hours a day.
But Will, you may prove to be right. I’m 83, and I dread the future you predict.
congrats – a well deserved recognition of a nicely crafted story. Some people need to look up “flotsam” in the dictionary. It’s not an insult, it’s an apt description of the wreckage left by society.
Alex, you’ve lived to be 83, you say. Who of those commenting on your story may be certain of whatsoever, being young and ambitious right now, the way you used to be at their age?
I was pondering on “the future you ptedict” to come forward with the idea that whatever someone predicts is a double edged blade to cut the predictor too. Am I wrong?
Partially agree, but can’t think of how those two can be considered apart
Congrats on this excellent Story of the Week!
Congratulations! Well done.
Many thanks, Kenny and Eileen.
My chose would have been your story. Look forward to reading more.
Alex, you made my heart bleed. Why not send me a line.
“Well done” is a far cry from what it deserves. In my strong opinion the short is worth nominating the best in the passing year!