He had recently lost his father to COVID-19 and was reflecting on forgiveness.
For the majority of his life with his father, they did not have a positive relationship.
However, in the last three years of life, his father lost his memory and his personality changed into someone who was loving and kind.
During this time, his father—who maintained his memory of his son—told him that he loved him for the first time.
In reflecting on forgiveness, he said he was at peace, mainly due to the love surrounding him from people in his life who allowed him to be who he was meant to be. He wished the same peace for his father.
Listener Poet Yvette Perry
Association of American Medical Colleges
March 2021
Forbearance
When he remembers
it is my face, my name,
that I am his son, and also
the joyful visits and nonsense conversations
and kindness—especially the kindness
and him finally telling me
I love you
It is the three years of this he remembers and
not the fifty years of trauma, anger, cruelty
of a man broken by three wars and
other things that break men
that I do not know
When he leaves this life to go to the next
I release his fifty years of debt that
has been repaid by my sons
who I am so different with than
he was with me, repaid by
all those who love me with
deed and word so strong that love
is made air saturating the breath in my lungs
I send him a prayer on a wisp of a sigh
I forgive you
I wish you well
Next life this will come
to him at odd moments in
small quiet fragments and
he will wonder if
he loved a son like me
in a past life or maybe
it was just a dream or a wish
but he will remember
“I wonder if these medical professionals, in caring for people who face such insurmountable odds, walk around all the time carrying this weight I’m hauling now.”
He had been trying to cope with the grief ever since and was on a quest for soul-searching and meaning-making.
She spoke about the ways this traumatic event shaped who she is today: a person with an “unshakeable peace” born of deep faith,
She wanted to help people feel comfortable and transform the shame around colon issues. "I want to talk about things that matter, the things people don't want to discuss.
When we met, she was coming off a stretch of nine 14-hour shifts. She was tired but in good spirits.
She reflected on how her resilience was born from moments of shared mirth amid life's trying chapters.
“Life is complex and dirty, but digging in is important to me,” she said. “Maybe if more of us understood history, we could understand each other better.”
We are expected to research, contribute to scholarship, earn grants – all on our own time.
We are expected to research, contribute to scholarship, earn grants – all on our own time.
Every day, I try to see through the patient lens, and I ask: what can we do to change this broken system?
She was very proud of her daughter and has hopes for “a bright future that’s as pain free as possible”
“I’m trying to focus on doing little things to make people feel better during everything that’s going on in the world,” she told me.
“It’s hard to see others struggle,” she said. “How can I help with their struggle without struggling myself?”
"I'd tell her it's OK to be loud...it's OK to challenge and to bring all of you into these spaces where no one looks like you..."
“I'm continuously questioning: did I do it right?" she said. "I’ve always done a good amount of second-guessing, but I’m re-learning how to show up differently.”
“It’s weird,” she said. “This is one of the biggest accomplishments of my life, but it doesn’t feel like it.”
"It changed me; It changed the way I look at life," said this woman about her profound experience during her pregnancy.
“It’s been more challenging than normal lately,” she said. “I’m only one person. It's a struggle for me to say no, but I can’t do everything that’s being asked of me right now.”
"I've been processing how to make the most of the small amount of life we have to live," said this physician.
"I've been processing how to make the most of the small amount of life we have to live," said this physician.