I was flipping around the TV after dinner, and came upon a program, it was on PBS, about a woman who took her little dog around to hospitals and hospices and such, to visit with the elderly, ill, and infirm. It was an unlikely dog for such a task, a black and white Shih-Tsu, but it did it's job of giving comfort perfectly well. The program showed visits with scores of afflicted, mostly elderly, as I said, each circling the drain in their own fashion. The dog had a calm demeanor, never really even wagging its tail, but happy to take treats from the patients and wander around on their sick-beds, exchanging looks more timely than words and more valuable than cure.
So I'm watching all this, thinking, "Well, isn't that a nice thing to do for folks," when my wife blurts out, "You need to change that GD channel or I'm going to the bedroom to read. I can't stand to hear all that."
Well, to be honest, I knew right away what she was getting all upset about, and maybe deep down inside me I was running a test of sorts, for my own benefit, as I watched this otherwise innocuous show. My father-in-law passed away about eighteen months ago, losing his battle with cancer and renal failure. We made many, many trips to his bedside during that time, and have visited his grave a gracious plenty since.
Some of you might not see a problem here, but I do. I don't think she is in denial, or anything like that, but I suspect she is getting pleasure from the pain, if you know what I mean. Or am I a cold-hearted SOB?
This was her first loss of a close family member, and that might account for some of it, but, if so, I dread to think of her mother's passing, who she is even more emotionally tied to. As for myself, death has been always there, from a very young age, so I'm sort of "over it". Family comes, family goes.
Anybody else here have a wife with unwanted emotional baggage? How long should I be expected to avoid death-bed scenes on TV?
Ed
Oh, yeah....
