My father died peacefully on February 6, 2012. I had arrived a few hours before he died, so I had time to sit by him and talk and even moisten his lips with the long-promised scotch I had with me. I don't know if he heard me, but he smacked his lips from the scotch, My father had Alzheimer's and had donated his brain to the Alzheimer's study he'd been part of at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. I'll continue to post for a while.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
my father wrote this letter to God, November 2006
We were in Dr. Scarmeas's (his Alzheimer's doctor) waiting room, and I was grading papers. Since my father used to love writing words, rhyming words, and playing with language, I asked him if he wanted to write something. "Sure," he said.
I handed him a tablet and pen. He asked what he should do. "Anything you want," I said.
He wrote for a while. When he finished writing, my father tucked these pages into the tablet.
I asked what he'd written and if I could read it. He said, "It's a letter." "It's to God," he said and handed over the pages.
I guess the visit to the synagogue the day before this day gave him something to think about. He said he wouldn't give the letter to a rabbi, though - he didn't think a rabbi had a direct line to God.
I told him I'd save the letter.
My father said "Sure" when I asked if I could show the letter to the doctor and to the resident who was sitting in on the appointment. So I'm taking the liberty of showing it here.
I asked about the closing: "A. Zever. " He smiled and said, "As ever."
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2 comments:
Your father sounds like a humble man, who can still see the humor in life.
Thanks for your comment. Yes indeed, a humble man...it's gotten him into trouble, I'd say. No matter his Alzheimer's, his humor remains - and charms people.
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