Jan.23 aprx. 5am
He’s gone. He’s pale. He’s cold. All that is left is a body. The life that he is, is alive.
6:35am What matters now....I’m not sure. I sit here in my meditation room and I’m crying. It seems so foolish
7:42am I walk over to see his lifeless body and yes it’s jarring - it’s turned almost all white. So pale. I look away quickly and walk towards the kitchen and I pause. I look back. I swear I just heard him take a breath. But there is no movement of his chest. That up and down and the moans that let me know he’s still kicking. The silence is so fucking quiet.
It happened in a wink. Literally. Mummie, on the couch next to Papa's bed, goes upstairs at approximately 3:30am. I hear her go and then Papa's breathing must have gotten quiet cause I zonk out. Anudidi, who's upstairs, wakes up in a jolt, rushes down to check on Papa at 3:50am. She's relieved he's breathing. She goes back up and can hear Mommie fumbling away. Mommie climbs down the stairs at about 3:57am telling me I can go to my room, now that she’s down for good. As soon as she says my name, I shoot up and shout ‘he’s not breathing!’ It's 4:00am.
We check for a pulse and don’t find one. I look at the digital clock placed awkwardly on the fireplace mantel- one of Papa's demands. It reads 4:02am. The air leaves my body and my breathing becomes shallow. I go into robotic mode. I call the palliative doctor, ask him what we do, I think I just caught a few of his words the main one being be was going to come by at 7am with a death certificate. I barely take in my mom but she's almost as pale as Papa. At some point she goes upstairs to wake up Anudidi who then comes running down. Then the noise began before I just got real quiet and shut the world out.
And then I went into a meditation. And then I feel. I get a knowing. He’s flying, he’s understanding, he sees. Moments pass, my sister and mom discuss what has just happened and I go deeper. He’s there, here. Geeta comes rushing in and the Hindu mantras my mom has playing off YouTube stops as she falls into him. He did that! He shut the music. ‘She doesn’t need the music’ he says. I hear her sobs. I feel her embrace Anudidi and they cry and then she’s beside me rubbing my back and with my eyes close I acknowledge her. I’m understanding more and more the lack of a need to speak.
I stay quiet.
The Next Few Hours
It's a blur now. Sumit came, Paji and Pabiji came, the palliative doctor came to give the death certificate. Anudidi calls the funeral home and they arrange to pick up the body. I showered at some point. Sacha comes. I try to sleep, I can't. I breakdown and fall into Geetadidi. I try to sleep again, I can't.
8:15am- I tear off the scotch tape from the drinking glasses that held the syringes that I inserted into his subcutaneous line. Used them basically just that last afternoon. I want so badly want to inject him with medicine cause that means there’s hope he will be around tomorrow. Maybe today is just a bad day I tell myself but I know. We all know. We all knew. It was approaching fast. The end was so near.
Last night as I lay on the worn out foam mattress on the floor by the foot of his bed, tears stream down my face as I hear him struggling to breathe, the gurgling in his throat. And I tell him ‘it’s okay to leave. I let you go. We let you go.’ And I knew...I fucking knew he was gonna go so why am I so sad he’s gone? I knew. I knew
8:23am - Memories flood my mind. My papa....
8:24am - Geet texts me to say funeral home is here to take body. I rush upstairs. Tears stain my face. They wait by the door to give us, the family, a moment before they come in to take the body. Anu kisses his forehead, hugs him and pulls back exclaiming ‘I heard him breathe.’ I have no reaction. Geet explains that happens. My mom says she thought so too earlier. We get quiet and we’re as ready as one can be. It’s procedural. They wear black coats, it’s a cold winters day in ottawa today. Masks covering half of their faces. Dead or not we’re still in a pandemic. They explain what they are doing whilst they wrap up the body and transfer it from the comfortable hospital bed he’s been laying in the last few weeks to a cold hard stretcher. My mom has a last minute panic and asks me if someone checked to see if really there is no pulse and he is in fact dead. I don’t know what to say to her. I take a breath and tell her there is no pulse trying to remind her that her and I both checked hours ago. Anu doubts for a second as well but after a little bit of back and forth with the funeral folks, my mom and sister are ready to accept again. I just hope for their sakes they don’t doubt again. And then they roll him out slowly. Past the large family photo in the hallway, out the front door into the frigid cold. Papa hates the cold. And into the back of their black van. I turn around and speed up the stairs to the bathroom, roll open the window and watch the van pull away from the house. Papa pulls out for the last time. I say bye and then I just fall.
9am- in my meditation room I let the tears fall. I’m so tired haven’t slept all night except for that damn 10 minutes when my life changed. When I lost him. I put my head down and the memory of sleeping by his bed comes rushing in and I quickly sit up. Will I ever be able to lie down again without listening for his breath?
Then the questions flood in: how could I have fallen asleep?! When did his breathing become quiet? How long was I fucking asleep?! Did I do enough? Did I do right by him?
9:33am - My stomach is grumbling. I need to poo, eat and sleep. Not sure sleep is gonna happen.
9:40am- I feel not done. I need to take care of him still. Need to brush his teeth, feed him soup, help the PSW (personal support worker) change and wash him, make sure I have the schedule for the nurses and PSW’s visits...I need to do...to move, to keep busy. The stillness is killing me.
5:57pm - I'm pooping again. It’s my 5th time today? People came, people went. Food came, food came and food came - it’s what Indians do. Food is comfort, care, love. Anudidi and I hide away upstairs and polish off the obituary for the funeral webpage. We eat. We talk. We share old photos. We laugh. Anudidi and Paji go to the funeral home to figure out all the logistics for Monday- the day of the funeral. We drink tea, hot fennel water to help our tummies. Mom complains about being constipated to everyone. Geet and I find this funny. We’re all exhausted, feel icky and yet there’s more...more discussions of what’s gonna go down the next few days. I’ll be going to do the final washing of papa’s body with my Paji tomorrow- I’m grateful he knows the drill just having done this for his own father. I (I found out later he hadn’t) He asks me on his way out if I’ll be okay tomorrow and I nod yeah, as if ‘I got this.’ But I’ve got nothing. My emotions are so unpredictable I’m a stranger to myself. All I can do is my best - something my Dad used to say.
Jan.24th
12:23am - I wake up to go to the bathroom. It’s a nightmare. It’s not true. I don’t want it to be true. I wanna wake up to a world where you exist. I want to wake up and have a healthy papa.
Jan. 25 - funeral day
8:05am - What if I just talked to you pop like you’re here, right here. Good morning. I’m charging your phone just in case. Mom's gonna need you today so show up for her okay?
8:30am - Just go through the motions - brush your teeth, wash your face, put on your black clothes. Tie your hair back, grab your black shawl and slip on your black boots and black winter jacket. So much black outside and in.
Jan. 27 - 3am
I lie down and think of papa. Do I really want him back? I don’t want the sick papa back cause he was suffering in this diseased body; do I want the past back when he was healthy? No because the past is gone and I have good memories; do I want him in my future just so I have him around when I know full well that he was getting tired of his life as it was.
Without thinking of ME, I don’t want him back. I know what happened was for the best for his best and just for the best.
Jan. 28, 2021
6:39pm - I watched the video of the ‘interview’ we did of papa and whichever way I look at it, I can’t help but feel grateful he died when he did. He was confined to a bed almost paralyzed from the shoulders down. He couldn’t perform basic health regimens for himself. And I knew he didn’t want that. He ate parsad and a little bit fell on his gown and he couldn’t look down to find the piece of food that had fallen. He relied on us for everything and he hated it. He was a man of principle and pride and I can’t imagine what it must have been like for him to surrender to the idea of having his daughter help the PSW change his diaper. Mom found it humiliating and she said it was hard for to watch. So I’m glad...I’m glad he didn’t have to live a life he didn’t want to. He lived his life exactly how he wanted. He didn’t compromise. And so at the end he basically said peace out ✌️ This isn’t living. And I respect his decision to leave. I respect the soul’s decision to leave that diseased body. Good for you pop. I’m proud of you. You lived a good life . You did good. I love you. See you next time.