The silence, solitude and simplicity that I brought the cottage is holding me in good stead as I sit with my mom in the hospital waiting for everyone to figure out what’s the next best plan for her. She lives in the silence of deafness and has always created the solitude that she needs. At the moment her choice is simple: “I want to go back to where I live.”
It has just occurred to me that I am learning about the 3S’s through the situations of others.For the past 24 hours I've been gathering stories.
To begin with, there is the woman who cleans the floors. She came here ten years ago with her husband and one of her children, leaving most of her family behind. “But it’s okay,” she tells me, “and I will get back there someday.
Then there is the man across the hall, waiting to be released so he can go back to the shelter where he lives. They're giving him a good lunch first. “It’s going to be cold,” he’s told.
What about the aide who is going to New Jersey to see an aunt after work? She has her own life. Once again I am amazed how involved I have become in my immediate situation.
And then there’s the little Italian woman, walking the hall, getting ready to go home. She stops and I listen to her entire story. My choice. I could have withdrawn into my own silence. But not to worry, it’s there for me whenever I want it.
It’s up to each of us to slip off occasionally to our own cottage by the sea and find the silence, solitude and simplicity that we need this holiday season. No easy task.
It has just occurred to me that I am learning about the 3S’s through the situations of others.For the past 24 hours I've been gathering stories.
To begin with, there is the woman who cleans the floors. She came here ten years ago with her husband and one of her children, leaving most of her family behind. “But it’s okay,” she tells me, “and I will get back there someday.
Then there is the man across the hall, waiting to be released so he can go back to the shelter where he lives. They're giving him a good lunch first. “It’s going to be cold,” he’s told.
What about the aide who is going to New Jersey to see an aunt after work? She has her own life. Once again I am amazed how involved I have become in my immediate situation.
And then there’s the little Italian woman, walking the hall, getting ready to go home. She stops and I listen to her entire story. My choice. I could have withdrawn into my own silence. But not to worry, it’s there for me whenever I want it.
It’s up to each of us to slip off occasionally to our own cottage by the sea and find the silence, solitude and simplicity that we need this holiday season. No easy task.