What We Owe the Old
What We Owe the Old
A little privacy to discuss important business
What we owe the old is reverence, but all they ask for is consideration, attention, not to be discarded and forgotten.
— Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
A friend of mine is missing her father. They aren’t estranged or living far away. He resides just minutes away and she used to visit his apartment twice a week. She was the one he trusted to talk about the important things like how his stomach was queasy or his need for a new watch. His wife used to take care of those things but she left this world in 2019. He’s ninety-one.
My friend hasn’t got too busy. She still sees him, but it’s awkward because all of their visits are now in public spaces, like the front desk or the neighbouring cafe. The managers at his apartment made a new rule that wasn’t in his original contract. They said his daughter wasn’t allowed to visit his suite.
Was she abusive towards people working in the building? Throwing parties at all hours of the night? These are the usual reasons that people get banned from buildings.
No, the caretakers at his facility decided to start practicing medicine by telling his daughter what medical procedures she should have. They’ve banned her because she hasn’t complied. How bizarre! How could they possibly think it was any of their business?
How is it possible that a well-respected pastor who spent his life serving others is now being barred from spending private time with his little girl? The one he spent his whole life loving? Yes, we are here.
I had hoped we wouldn’t be, but we are. Deitrich Bonhoeffer, the German-Jewish dissident, wrote this while in prison for speaking out against the Nazis:
A home is a kingdom of its own in the midst of the world, a stronghold amidst life’s storms and stresses, a refuge, even a sanctuary.
Bodily autonomy. Life and liberty. Privacy in our homes. We have always taken them for granted, never dreaming they were not a given.
Please check out my latest book: a poetry chapbook focused on the effects of the lockdowns on our society. I wrote this book all last year as I watched the insanity of lockdowns wreak havoc around me.
Lockdown Fragments (PDF copy).
Lockdown Fragments (print or Kindle version)