Theatrical

A friend sent me a link to a play offered by Senior Theatre Resource Center. The play, Love in 4/4 Time, by Gary Young, focuses on two couples as they deal with partners who have dementia.  I decided to purchase my own copy so that I could share this
paragraph:

Photo by Lennon Cheng on Unsplash

CAROL: (beat) That was the moment I fell in love with him—and embraced his spontaneity. (beat) Thirty-five years ago. (beat) That story sustained our marriage. (Ted stands, turns on stool with back to audience) Now, he doesn’t remember it. (beat) Alzheimer’s has… has robbed us of his spontaneity. (beat) Now, he calls me “Sis.” (beat) Ted’s sister died at eleven, he was nine at the time…I used to visit Ted every day, without fail, around lunchtime…now, three or four times a week…(beat) it is “The Long Good-Bye,” to quote Nancy Reagan. (beat) I still long for him, miss him…need him…but when I look into his eyes, I can see his memory of me fading…I feel like I’m fading away too…his doctor said, “Ted is dying because his brain is dying. (beat) Eventually, Ted’s brain will not remember how to breathe.” (beat) You know, it’s not death that weighs on me…it’s the never-ending dying… I have two prayers: one says, “Please not today, please - let us have one more day together.” The other says: “Please…let it be today, let us be through with this. Please, please, please.” (beat) In a sense, Ted’s left me behind…and who’s to say that I won’t “go” first? Would he miss me…would he even know that I died? Died, loving him. (beat) So, what now? What’s next? (Carol, shrugs her shoulders in resignation.)

That's how every day is.