Hung Hom was a terrible place to end up. He was 84 years old and had trouble remembering some things but he knew that his life had been extraordinary. He'd survived... well many things, it was just hard to bring them up. He did rememeber those simpler days when life was not quite so rushed, and things were not quite so noisy. It was harder to remember specifics. He did remember his children and what they had done to him. He remembered when he did not think about funerals everyday because of his view out the window.
It was a horrible state of affairs, to be abandoned by one's family in a place such as this. It was billed as an old people's home though it hardly felt like home. What was the world coming to when one's children had no concept of their duties to their parents, to the people who had given them life and sacrificed so much. To be left to rot in a home with all those other lost parents whose children had abandoned them.He was not a happy man and life was now devoid of all joy.
The knowledge that being on a ventilator and needing constant care had been too much for his daughter did not lessen the sting. No, back in his days, children cared for their sick elders. It was the sons who would marry and bring home suitable daughter in laws who would cook, clean and generally do all that the elders now could no longer do. His son had not married. His daughter had married all right and had a son of her own, but instead of staying home to care for her child and her father, she continued to work and while she had hired a foreign made to care for her child, the same consideration was not extended to her own father.
He growled under his breath as he stared out the windows. The home was not terribly unpleasent but most of the elderly were treated with a sort of cold efficiency. The caretakers were polite but terribly brisk. He did not like to consider them too much. One could not become friends with those who cleaned out his bedpan.
His children came, bringing bags of biscuits and some chocolates. His grandson was not with them. "he had to do his homework" was the excuse. He was not happy and he threw the chocolates at his children for their inconsiderate disrespect. They left after only a little while and he was left looking out the dreary windows again. Hung Hom was a terrible place to end up. From his window, he could see the little flower shop. It was not just any flower shop. They only sold flower arrangements for funerals. Behind this stall was the tall imposingly beige building of the funeral parlour. He had gone there before, he knew he had. It was hard to remember how many times. One thing he did know, the next time would be the last.
***
He wasn't sure how long he'd been here now. He could recognise most other elderly living here and knew that he was no longer the newest one. There was one new face and it was not elderly. She was a new nurse. It seemed she'd been hired fairly recently and she was put in charge of taking care of him.
It was understandable really, he did have quite a few little problems. His ventilator's tubes often could get clogged, he couldn't quite hold his bladder through the night, his diet needed managing now. He had more pills then were worth counting.
His previous nurses had done their duties but nothing more then that. This new nurse smiled at him as well. His old heart would flutter.
She was a lovely girl, much younger then him obviously though he couldn't tell exactly how old. She had no wrinkles but the slightly tired eyes of someone who wasn't exactly that young. She was rather short and plump, with hair shorter then he thought fashionable but she also had dimples.
She was diligent about making sure that he was getting enough oxygen and checking his vitals. He pretended to make a fuss when she tried to make him take his pills just so he could hear her calmly wheedle. He created a bigger fuss when she tried to make him wear adult diapers but he didn't put it against her because she didn't push the issue too hard. He smiled silently when she cut his overgrown toenails and made comments about his horrible feet and the best part of his day was when he would ask her to change the channel on the TV after he'd hidden the remote. She would bend over and her little uniform would stretch quite snugly over her bottom. Luckily for him, someone else was tasked with giving him a bath.
***
His birthday was almost forgotten, but his special nurse had remembered. "Would you like to take a stroll outside?" she asked. He hadn't been outside except for hospital visits. "Just until your family come of course. I'll have you back in time!"
He nodded enthusiastically of course and though it took time to sort out the logistics of taking a portable oxygen tank and making sure he was warm and covered, soon enough he was wheeled into the industrial sized life, carefully lowered down the steps and out the front door. Another one of the orderlies tried to walk with them, but he angrily waved him away. He wanted to be alone with her.
For the first block or so they were silent but after awhile she began to ask him about his family. He didn't want to talk about them but he did because he was having trouble thinking of anything else. She was an attentive listening but it wasn't long before he couldn't quite remember things. It might have been uncomfortable but she began to talk about her life. This was much more fun.
She told him about her family at first then things she liked to do. She talked about her favourite foods, abalone being a particular one. He was enthralled. Instantly, he decided that he liked badminton as well and he must have always liked abalone. It went on and on until they reached the small playground area that stood as a park. Not much of a park, some wilty plants and ugly benches near a small slide and something else made for kids.
She was now talking about someone. Some she was almost complaining about him but with a smile on her face. "he's very messy and sometimes he can be very grumpy." He wondered who she was talking about. "He's a little older then me but I dont think that is a big issue." She went on about this person's faults but did so with a smile. Clearly this was someone she care about. He began to imagine and wonder and suppose. His ears weren't listening too clearly when he started to imagine that maybe she might care a little bit about him like he did her. It was no great leap from caring to love so he blurted out, "Please marry me!" just as she said, "my boyfriend..."
There was an awkward pause. It went on forever. His nurse wasn't smiling anymore. Then the moment passed. "Don't be silly," she said. She tucked his blanket around him but wouldn't look at him. He wanted to say something, pretend it was a joke. He couldn't think. She mumbled about the cold and said "lets go back."
She continued to talk as she wheeled him along, this time going back another way but he was not listening. Instead he was scowling at the flower stalls making funeral wreaths, at the little stores selling paper goods to be burned for the ancestors. He scowled at the hearths that passed them on the road and scowled at the clicky noises that signalled they could cross the street from the funeral parlour to the his building.
When they got back to the Old people's home, his nurse made sure everything was taken care of, put him at his window and said, "They will be here soon." she meant his family, but he was looking out the window at the men unloading another casket. "Yes, they will," he mumbled scowling.
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