“No more this feeling of lightness in the air around here…” said grandma. Part 1

Posted by: adonis49 on: April 8, 2013

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“There is no more this feeling of lightness in the air around here…” said grandma (fiction story)  April 8, 2013

Grandma was perturbed this morning. She was not cheerful, and that is not uncommon early morning, to her and to me.

I realized that I love the night and loth the morning.

Nothing in the waking up process carries much hope for a better life: Just the same routine for maintaining the survival process.

Other people can’t wait to leave the house, under the excuse of going to work.

The Morning for grandma meant working studiously, without any interruption for hours on, until grandma falls down, claiming dizziness, back pain, chills, unresponsive muscles, unresponsive finger ligaments, arthritis…

The adage was “wake up early and devour the early worms…” as birds do and as the Chinese rice paddy growers do… 

And this age is probably behind us, since all these maintenance tasks do not generate any money to back up whatever wishes I still have…

For elder people, waking up very early in the morning, even after you crossed the barrier of 80 years, is a must… Doing anything is better than loafing around or waiting for the sun to warm the air and the body…

Better feel the chill and freeze the fingers in cold water than wait for the sun to come to the rescue…

The sink must be cleaned of dishes from overnight binging of “other members of the extended family”…

Cooking for two families must be started, and usually two of the 3 dishes in the menu are burned for handling more than one job at a time…  And the cooking burner is flooded and must be cleaned…

And the level of anger and frustration reaches its zenith:  You cannot look such a bad cook after a life-time of excellent compliments…

Portions of the rooms in the house must be thoroughly sweeped and cleaned (floor, walls, windows, racks…).

Even a decade ago, I used to clean the entire house in a single day.

I tried to appease grandma that her attitude is a matter of temporary depression, and told her an example of how to control depressive moods without medications.

How can you deal with depression? Here is this story:

“A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they’d be asked the “half… empty or half full” question. The “psychologist” smiled and inquired: “How heavy is this glass of water?”

Called out answers ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

The  psychologist replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

The psychologist resumed, “The stresses and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about the worries for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything.”

It’s important to remember to let go of your stresses.

But how can I do that?

For grandma, when she goes to bed the only ideas that come to mind are remembering the dear departed.

“I review all these dead people… I barely can get a snooze at night”.

And what about my ailing husband George, having so much difficulty breathing and coughing these horrible noises?

As early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. But that’s what I do after 1 pm: I am just aware of my body pains and helplessness to perform anything. I am watching a bad TV screen and a mute sound. (She cannot hear or see properly)

Don’t carry the worries through the evening and into the night. Remember to put the glass down!

Putting the glass down is no problem: The glass drops by itself. It is picking up the pieces and sweeping the shards that are the problem.

Tags: adonis49, essay, feeling of lightness in the air, said grandma