218

Both of my "elderly" parents, with separate, serious ailments are in two separate nursing care facilities. But, they are both, as of this week, in the "same" room, Room 218.

That kind of thing happens in movies, and plainly happens in the real. I've been to both rooms.

His room is marked "isolation" because infectious types need to stay away while he's on a throat aspirator and getting better from pulmonary artery chest surgery.

Her room isn't marked, accept with her name and the name of her roommate. But, she's in a demential state of her own world, and her roommate is always asleep when any of us see her. Isolation.

He can't speak, except to mouth, and sometimes manage a soft whisper, but when he's awake he's "with" me.

She speaks to be heard but talks of imaginings and jumbled things we haven't the ability to comprehend. And thus speech and communication of things heard from her lips are less useful to our minds and emotions than the few things he can mouth to us.

He's a minister and has preached much.

She's a take charge lady, who put much store on her superior mind and communication abilities and of all the times she "had to speak, when you're father was afraid." And yet, he's quiet and at peace and steadily improving and she's spastic, angry without visible reason, speaking of many fears long suppressed and afraid she'll lose her place at home.

Which is oddly karmic or of balance or whatever, the goal is to keep her home, as much as possible, as much to our ability and sanity, and yet her strange behavior with its ability to endanger us may make that....

This is "write what you know" or feel of think, whichever or all. These things in one's life, use them or else your characters may be fine but shallow like cut out dolls and not like those who are so much a part of us that they are icons, some with their own addresses, like Sherlock Holmes, they own ways explaining how to handle things like fiery Captain Kirk or cool, "logical" Mr. Spock.

It's our flaws, or lack of them--since I have lately noticed that while ALL of us have stories of goofy days and little or great mistakes we've made, she hasn't one. She's not told us one story that said or even implied that she failed at something.

How's that for character?