After Seventeen days
in the ICU, my dad was happy to move in to a room where the family could be
with him all the time. The ICU was a actually a cold and lonely place
where he was a number who responded to the stimuli of a specialist. The
single room was definitely a better place where family could touch him and gesture to him
and be with him all the time and just to
a few minutes at a scheduled hour.
The doctors had put him on a ventilator, they had tubes
running from his nose and an insertion at his throat which left him “
speechless” literally. A person who
loved to speak was unable to counsel and guide.
This was a great impediment to
communication.
We had to make do with gestures and smiles, but yet the yearning to
communicate was intense. We made a chart of the alphabet in bold
letters and held it up to him, he would
point his fingers to the various alphabets and we would decipher the words and
meanings.
Dad spent a happy hour with my children when they were finally allowed to visit him in the room as
children visiting the ICU was not
permitted. After the children had
left now dad’s attention moved to something else.
He wanted to know the expenses for the hospital stay. Robin my brother and I told him not to worry about the expenses
and it is taken care off. He tried to understand the cost, being a careful person however we did not
give any hint about it ( may be so we thought) .
Another half hour or
so passed when Dad had a bit more energy he
gestured for the alphabet chart,
we took it out and showed it to him.
He pointed out to some alphabets but we could not grasp what he meant to communicate. He tried several times,
Robin and I said you mean “
FDC” he nodded yes? I wondered is it “ First Day Cover”? dad being an ardent stamp collector. He was positively
disappointed at the grasp of his
sons. We tried various combos and
could not decipher. Exhausted he fell asleep.
Robin stayed the
night with Dad and the next morning
after the doctor visits and check ups we
got together again. I looked at the
alphabet chart and then it dawned on me that he meant “ Fixed Deposit Certificate” I asked
Dad do you mean it is a fixed deposit
certificate? His face lit up and
said gestured yes, further more he
communicated to us to encash the fixed deposit which he held to pay for the hospital bills.
Robin and I took his hands in ours and kissed him and wiped
the tears from all our eyes. Dad was positively relieved that he got his message across to us. That was about 11 am after that he relaxed and went into a
sleep and by early afternoon he peacefully walked through the Threshold of Eternity.
The care, concern and
responsibility which my father
communicated through his gestures is a fitting gift and example for a Fathers Day.
A tribute to all Father's as they show care and concern to their family.
