A once great man……

(A post I started last night and finished this evening in a burst of energy.)

I had good intentions to go to bed early tonight but I find myself sitting here at this computer thinking and longing to write. I am listening to Palestrina’s Missa Aeterna Christi Munera mass and find myself lost in thought to the beautiful polyphony. It is typical of the polyphonic masses that arose in the renaissance period of early church music. I find the voices haunting and yet so beautiful at the same time.

Tonight I had planned to share the results of my second music appreciation exam. I drove all the way to the campus to find that we will not have class this week. I will not know my results until next week. I then drove to my father’s business as it is not far from the campus. I was recruited into delivering an oxygen unit and a nebulizer via the company van. They handed me a slip of paper with the delivery address on it and I had a good inkling as to where the customers resided. After packing up what supplies I needed, I headed on my way.

I finally found the house and it was very run down. I looked again at the address and looked at the mail box. Yep, it was the same. I then got out and walked to the front door and knocked.

“COME ON IN!” Someone shouted.

I carefully opened the door and shyly made my entrance.

“You from the pharmacy?” The elderly man asked.

He was sitting on the couch hooked to an oxygen tank and eating ice cream out of the carton with a spoon very vigorously.

“Yes sir, I have your oxygen unit and your nebulizer.” I replied.

“Put the god damned thing in the bedroom.” He said pointing towards a room to the left.

The house was filthy and reeked of cigarette smoke and urine. Everything had this dingy, brown pall to it. I looked at the pictures on the wall in the den. This very elderly man had once been in the military and served in world war two. The wall was adorned with many black and white photos from the forties of his military days. He was a dashing, handsome young man in his youth. Many pictures showed off his military uniform adorned with medals. Now, he is a mere shadow of those long ago days. He was frail and bent over with age. He was dependent upon a machine to breathe.

I proceeded to hook up the oxygen unit and to show him how to use the nebulizer. I also had eight forms for them to sign, literally. He hollered to his elderly wife to come and sign his name to the forms. I brought her into the kitchen to the kitchen table and we sat down.

“Sign here, here, and here.” I said pointing to the locations.

She was bent over with age and her hand shaked terribly. She grasped the pen and started to sign. Her finger nails were hideously long and yellow with age. She could barely hold the pen. I turned the form over and revealed another location to sign.

“How many more times do I have to sign?” She asked with consternation.

“Four more.” I replied and put a finger on the locations.

“HUH?” She asked loudly as she could barely hear.

“FOUR MORE!” I shouted loudly and pointed to the dotted lines.

“I’m not signing any more of these damn papers.” She hollered.

“JUST SIGN THE GOD DAMNED PAPERS, WILMA!” The elderly man in the other room shouted.

“WHAT?” The elderly lady shouted.

“FOR CHRIST’S SAKE, SIGN THE GOD DAMNED PAPERS FOR THE BOY!” He shouted so loudly that he started to hack and cough from the exertion.

By this time, I was ready to leave and head home as I was tired. I finally coerced the lady into signing four more times. The amount of times they had to sign was ridiculous so I made a mental note to tell my father about it. It was a policy implemented by his co-pharmacist.

As I rode home, I thought of this once proud man and those dashing pictures of his youth. I also thought of his elderly wife who seemed pitiful and was once a beautiful, young lady. My own mortality dawned upon me. Will I grow old and pitiful like that? Will my last days be spent in turmoil? I hope not and it makes me appreciate the good life that rests before me now.