Friday Notes #76 — Flirting With The End of Life

Sitting in front of my M1 MacBook Air, using Craft as my typewriter machine, I think about the past week. That one was hard on me.

Last weekend, I visited my mother, living some 600 KM away from Montreal, Canada. The last time I saw her was in August 2021, for my father's funeral, who died in March of that year (See Friday Notes #36). What a difference nine months made on my 87 years old mother. She's living with Parkinson's disease for a few years; she shows signs of a complete lack of autonomy. I feel very sad to see her getting old and incapable this way. On the other hand, I know she is in much better shape mentally; she can't talk a lot: barely a few words at once, on her good days. It's highly frustrating for her. She's a prisoner of her body. Moreover, her kidneys are barely working. In sum, she is more and more flirting with the end of her existence.

A few kilometres away from my mom’s residence, there is a church close to the seashore with an old cemetery behind, forming a unique architectural environment. I went to spend some time there, just in time to see the sunset. It was a great experience and a visual reminder about how my mother is actually on her sunset. I took many pictures, trying to capture the scene and a bit of my mood at the moment. With sadness, I was reminded that our time here on earth isn’t eternal and that we should care for ourselves and others whenever possible. Getting old isn’t always funny. After a few moments spent walking around the cemetery, the sun vanishing behind the horizon, I left the place, and went back to my hotel, thinking about the next day, when I’ll return to visit my mother and spend some time with her. Maybe for the last time.

Please look at another variant of this picture on my Glass profile. The header picture is from me too.