reposted from June 25 2010: it makes me sad..
To see a favourite customer looking so very fragile.
This man has always been thin, but he came into the shop today looking as if a gentle breeze could blow him over.
Now, normally, he comes in, smiling and happy to talk as I process his mountain of cat food and kitty litter, some frozen meals for himself.
He hasn't been in for a while.
Today, he shuffled in so very slowly, walking so very carefully, as if his legs might break at any step.
His face is sunken and has taken on the yellowish colour of the terminally ill.
Today, he bought only a few packets of dry cat food, nothing at all for himself to eat.
He confided that he'd just come out of hospital again and this episode had been bad.
I'm afraid that my friend is dying.
This man has always been thin, but he came into the shop today looking as if a gentle breeze could blow him over.
Now, normally, he comes in, smiling and happy to talk as I process his mountain of cat food and kitty litter, some frozen meals for himself.
He hasn't been in for a while.
Today, he shuffled in so very slowly, walking so very carefully, as if his legs might break at any step.
His face is sunken and has taken on the yellowish colour of the terminally ill.
Today, he bought only a few packets of dry cat food, nothing at all for himself to eat.
He confided that he'd just come out of hospital again and this episode had been bad.
I'm afraid that my friend is dying.
2023 edit: not too much later I never saw him again.
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Oh dear. Do you ever see him with anyone else?
ReplyDeleteYou may be right. I suspect, too, that he sounds like my grandfather; who just got thinner and thinner as his digestive system packed up and his body shrivelled.
ReplyDeleteAll you can hope is that he has family and friends to help him, even if the next step is a nursing home (hopefully a good one).
Awww so sad. Sounds like his liver, my dad went very yellow for quite some time. People never seemed to notice or enquire. Shame, I think he might have liked the opportunity to explain.
ReplyDeleteKim, I've never seen him with anyone else in the six years I've worked there.
ReplyDeleteKath, I'm going to ask him next time I see him, if I see him. I know his neighbours look after his cats when he's in the hospital.
Baino, it looks to me as if he has cancer, my parents went yellow in their final months too. He not old either, younger than me.
It is so sad to see people withering away and it's hard not knowing what happened to them and hoping they weren't alone.
ReplyDeletejabblog; at the time I suspected cancer and think he was back in hospital soon after.
DeleteThis is such a sad memory and post.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child; it is a sad memory and I still think of him occasionally, he was such a gentle person.
DeletePoor guy. Unfortunately, none of us live forever, and we can't choose the way it ends, short of taking matters into our own hands, which is a terrible thing for the family.
ReplyDeleteVal; that is so true, I can only hope I get the thirty extra years I am hoping for.
DeleteSad story even after this long.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte; yes, and he still crosses my mind from time to time.
DeleteWe will all be there one day.
ReplyDeleteMike; yes we will and can only hope that others remember us.
DeleteSudden and fatal heart attacks maybe shocking for those who will grieve but it is awful to waste away to nothing.
ReplyDeleteAndrew; awful to waste away on your own, but with family around maybe it isn't so bad, although from their point of view it may be hard.
DeleteSad. We are all impermanent. As is everything around us.
ReplyDeleteSteve Reed; yet no one wants to think about that.
DeleteSad
ReplyDeleteDora; it was sad and I still think about him sometimes.
DeleteIt can be so hard. I pray he had a gentle end, and had someone to take the cat(s).
ReplyDeletemessymimi; I am fairly certain he went back to hospital under palliative care, the cats probably were taken to the animal welfare shelter.
DeleteBeen there. It is very, very tough. And sad. At least food for the cat (and someone took care of this one at least meanwhile)... I want to knock over and out one day.
ReplyDeleteIris; it was sad to watch him decline, but I had many other customers daily so couldn't be wasting time thinking about it too much. He had three or four cats, I think, certainly he bought enough food for that many. I would like to die in my sleep, but not for a good long while yet. I would like to see the twins grow up first.
DeleteOh that is so sad R. Some people seem to make an impression on us that stays with us for ever.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you and your family - and a Happy New Year.
Margaret D; I do still remember him after all these years. a quiet, polite man who cared for his cats.
Delete