Fading Away

The words ‘fading away’ always leave behind a sad feeling. Whenever
I come across them I am reminded of Gollum in Lord of the Rings.
The Ring made Gollum fade away, physically and mentally. The effects
of something evil. Such a terrible situation when we have no control
whatsoever over ourselves. That must be the case in addictions of any
type.
I wish evil of different sorts would fade away but that is being very
unrealistic. Evil is a part of human life. That is one aspect of life.

But fading away of a different type is when Dementia becomes a part
of our lives. Slowly we cease to have control over ourselves as the
brain cells start dying. The person we have always known changes,
slowly and sometimes rapidly in front of us. And we are helpless,
we can do nothing to stop the process. Maybe we can just slow it
down. It is such an emotional trauma to see our loved ones fading
away.
The question that always haunts us is why this has happened, why
couldn’t it be stopped then why has God allowed it to happen. So
many questions and no answers. In the end we tell ourselves it is
destiny, whatever has been written for us will happen. There is no
running away. Many a time this belief and faith helps us to face
whatever comes our way.
Some time ago, my brother sent me some poems from a book,
‘Bob’s Poems’ by Robert Taylor.

TEN BRAIN CELLS
Have you watched someone die,
Ten brain cells at a time
How many brain cells do we have
At any given time?
Just imagine what that might be like-
Ten brain cells at a time.
Have you any idea how long it might take-
Ten brain cells at a time?
Not very long for some of us –
For sure,
Ten brain cells at a time.