Until It Wasn't

by Chris Lihou

Image credit: Yanping Ma on Unsplash

It had been perpetual summer. Until it wasn’t.

They’d met and became inseparable, moving in together in 1990. 

Since then, there had been plenty of beach walks and weekly tennis games – matches that she frequently won. 

In public, they always held hands. Their eyes sparkled. Friends noticed how they finished each other’s sentences, without rancour. 

She continued her career, and so did he. Children were never discussed. Life felt complete with just the two of them.

Then it changed. Little things at first. 

Out of character, she became irritable and frequently misplaced her keys. Then, she could not remember more meaningful things, like where she was, how she got there. Her tennis game deteriorated. 

Protesting that it was unnecessary, he took her to the doctor, nonetheless. Tests followed, and a diagnosis was delivered. 

The tennis stopped, and the beach walks became infrequent, short and slow. He became more carer than husband, watching her slip away from both him and the world a little more each day. 

Beach walks became wheelchair strolls on the promenade. He taught himself to cook her favourite foods. He’d kiss her goodnight and retreat to the lounge to weep in silence.

Months passed into a year. He knew his coping was at the point of collapse, so he looked for a care home. She resisted, making an angry scene when he showed her the one he’d chosen, crying and accusing him of wanting to abandon her. She did not comprehend his exhaustion. 

Her first weeks in the home were some of his darkest. Increasing amounts of whiskey helped him sleep. He knew the decision was for the best, but his wife could not grasp that fact and felt abandoned.

He returned from each visit to a house full of echoes.

***

Chris Lihou

Chris is a retired engineer who, in 2020, following a serious medical diagnosis and treatment, found that writing short stories and poetry provided therapy and delight. His writings speak to the nature of our lives, its highs and lows, our pain and joy, our fantasies, life’s quirks and realities and even a bit of life’s silliness. He has self-published two compilations, Fifty More or Less and Fifty or More. Both are available on Amazon.