Love-letter

Titled intentionally, lest anyone decides to give this read a customary skip, just after viewing the post. 

The evening before:

Ritual 1: A piece of paper, with all current ailments carefully written down in the order of occurrence. Quite meticulously done because the experiencer of the pain and trauma feels it physically, penetrating into the mental layers as well. Hence this is but an inevitable exercise: that of writing down the grievances. Just like how we have learnt about grievance cells back in schools days from the Business Studies text book. We’re taught that when there are any “complaints,” raise them. So, job well done here, by the patient.

Ritual 2: A travel bag is prepared with all things that can be used for a quick one-day trip. A plate, a couple of tumblers, a spoon, coffee, sugar, citrusy fruits, pomegranates, at times…newspaper, towels, water bottle, lunch for the day, scissors, knife, and lastly, a thick strand of HOPE, powered by Chants and Prayers.

The day of travel: 

The bag is packed and carried, to a not-so-far-off destination, lest it’s made to look like a trip to a picnic spot. It’s for a 21-day window of getting doses of medication. The organism that rules the illness never gets tired of living. It has to be tamed, in order for it to tone down, and not rear its ugly head, to make its way to the rest of the human body. 

Blood pressure levels are checked on the day of the hospital visit. A note is then handed over to the doctor for review. The patient seems to take note of all current difficulties so that the doctor can potentially provide remedies. We’re already privy to the fact that there’s no cure. It has been repeated a zillion times, in many ways. However, the mind chooses to think - just like a fever, this would get cured, over a few pills.

The doctor found a cooler way to address this conflicting reality: rather than being completely brazen about the facts, he chooses to term the note from the patient as a “love-letter.” So much so that, he voluntarily asks, “where’s my love-letter for today?!” 

With that, the air gets lighter, because the air in the room is filled with love. 

Everything cools down with some love, perhaps. If only we choose to tone down, view things differently, rather than making something sound complicated. Some magic and love would lighten things up, even if it doesn’t reverse the situation. 

Feel better, Dearest Appa. A big thanks to our amazing oncologist, who’s our saviour - the mastermind behind the love-letter idea.