the brown stocking
"...but then at home, she had said, 'the mountains are so beautiful.' Her father was dying there, Mrs. Ramsay knew. He was leaving them fatherless. Scolding and demonstrating (how to make a bed, how to open a window, with hands that shut and spread like a Frenchwoman's) all had folded itself quietly about her, when the girl spoke, as, after a flight through the sunshine the wings of a bird fold themselves quietly and the blue of its plumage changes from bright steel to soft purple. She had stood there silent for there was nothing to be said. He had cancer of the throat."
- To the Lighthouse
I love this passage so much, one of my favorite sections of one of my favorite novels. I just read it this morning, actually, and tonight - just now - I got the news that my dad has throat cancer. This is right up the road from where I grew up:
Cancer treatment has come a long way since 1927. There's a really good chance - about 65%! - that my dad won't die too much sooner than he would anyway. But he has a terrible health history already, and he's been so sick these last months, and I want him to know he can be well and happy - and it just isn't going to happen anytime soon. Damnit.
This entry was originally posted at http://concinnity.dreamwidth.org/56046.html. Comment wherever you like.
- To the Lighthouse
I love this passage so much, one of my favorite sections of one of my favorite novels. I just read it this morning, actually, and tonight - just now - I got the news that my dad has throat cancer. This is right up the road from where I grew up:
Cancer treatment has come a long way since 1927. There's a really good chance - about 65%! - that my dad won't die too much sooner than he would anyway. But he has a terrible health history already, and he's been so sick these last months, and I want him to know he can be well and happy - and it just isn't going to happen anytime soon. Damnit.
This entry was originally posted at http://concinnity.dreamwidth.org/56046.html. Comment wherever you like.