24 April 2011

මතක හොරු අරන් / Memories robbed

“Don’t mix those photos . These once  I slept with and those are the once I fancied “
she smiles impishly.

“They are different  kinds you know, different emotions “
the smile dissolves in to  deeper thought

“Don’t you start counting them now , mister”, she playfully pulls back the pile of  5’’by 7’’ prints

“Will you help me to paste them and add the foot notes , before it fails. Before it is too late. “
She looks in to my eyes. Sharp pain run through my numb being . Is that possible at all?

“Now where do I paste this one”  she thinks out loud

A younger me from decades ago smiles at me in monochrome
Silence fills the room.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Is your hand trembling?”

She gently covers her right hand with her left  “No it is nothing , doctor said it is a stage one symptom”
Again that smile .And silence follows.
tik tok tik tok …

“Doctor said to start using a plastic cup and a plate. Will you buy me a set in blue . I like blue."

"Do you remember the colour of the dress that I wore on our trip to Trincomalee”

“You remember?”

Memories of a  blue summer dress in dancing carelessly in the sea breeze fills my mind.
Tears  fill my eyes .
Silence fills the room, again.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I pick her scrap book. It is about couple inches thick
Only about quarter of the pages are filled with photos and  footnotes .

02Feb 1982 -Our wedding day has a row of smillies running up to the right edge of the page.

I close the book .  මතක හොරු අරන් ( memories robbed) I read the title

“Wasn’t  that a stage play. Or was it සිහින හොරු අරන් (dreams robbed)? “

She lifts her head from the pile of photos she is sorting.

අනේ මට මතක නෑ “  (I can’t remember)



PS: Alzheimer's disease (AD), also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease, is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death. It was first described by German psychiatrist and neuropathologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906 and was named after him.[1] Most often, AD is diagnosed in people over 65 years of age,[2] although the less-prevalent early-onset Alzheimer's can occur much earlier. In 2006, there were 26.6 million sufferers worldwide. Alzheimer's is predicted to affect 1 in 85 people globally by 2050.

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