Day 11 of 30-Day Writing Challenge
Photo by Joshua Clay on Unsplash
I have a younger brother who became estranged several years ago. It’s easier to list up all the nasty things about him, maybe because the more recent experiences tend to dominate one’s memory. But here I will force myself to dig in my memory pool to look for the fun part about him.
It was my brother, not my mother, who called me on a Tuesday morning that my father was dying. My father had been admitted to hospital a week before, at that time the doctor indicated six months. A week later the number was cut down to one week.
I called my office that I would take time off that whole week. On Wednesday I took off to Japan. I crossed the date line got to Kansai Airport on Thursday evening, went straight to the hospital.
My brother was on the bedside. My father was sitting on his bed, with lots of pillows around his upper body. “H.” “Hey”… Usually he would say “hey”, with raising his left hand. But this time he only nodded. Maybe it was too painful for him to use his arm. He looked weak, but his smile on his face was not.
Then I went to see my father’s doctor. He showed me the X-ray of my father’s chest. How would I know what’s wrong! The doctor explained to me the lung was damaged pretty bad. “Why was not his cancer found earlier?” But it was too late to regret.
My brother and I went home together. We agreed that I would find a place for his funeral, do whatever I could do until Saturday, but come Sunday my brother would take over everything until the completion of the funeral. I would have to go back to Seattle. He understood.
The next day my brother and I went back to hospital. My father gave me the similar smile, without raising his left hand. My brother and I did all the talking. My father would either nod or smile. Sometimes He wanted to change his body position, to mitigate his pain here and there. All day long my brother’s and my laughter filled the room.
What were we talking about, exactly? It is strange but I can’t remember a thing. All I can remember vividly is giggling and laughter of my brother and me. What happened years later between my brother and me must have caused to erase the fun side of our time spent together. Is it how a human’s memory works? I don’t know.
Will I ever have another chance to laugh together with my brother? I should never say never, but I’m pessimistic.