The Resting Place

Everyone was really kind when I wrote my post A Modern Fairy Tale and left messages saying that the damsel did the right thing.

I said that the story had no ending. 

Very early this morning, the knight passed away in the hospice. Over the last week he became very ill and only then did the doctors say, 'Yes, it is terminal.'

During the last few days, the damsel made her peace with the knight and he was able to leave this world knowing that there had been an understanding and a kind of reconciliation.

The brown haired boy was able to go to see his father before he died and say goodbye to him.

The fair haired boy was much more upset about the oncoming death when he went to see him a few days before he died. He later asked the damsel, 'Will Dad still be shouting in Heaven?'

This is the boy who might be autistic and who is waiting for tests. He is the one who is having difficulty coming to terms with the death and also who might be more affected later on. We will have to see if the brown haired boy adjusts to the situation more easily.

The way forward will be difficult for the three of them, but I guess that once they get through the first year, the way might look more promising. I really hope so because they do deserve a better deal.

We shall be going to visit again for the funeral and for a short stay afterwards, but probably not till the end of the week. So if I disappear for a while, you know I will be back.

I guess there has been an ending after all................

A Modern Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, there was a damsel, who lived in a large city. She eventually met her knight in shining armour and jumped onto his white charger and left the city behind, travelling miles away.

'Well that's what married folk do, isn't it?'

After a few years, the damsel gave birth to the fair haired boy, followed two years later by the brown haired boy.

Their happiness seemed complete.

After the fair haired boy was born, the knight noticed a mole on his shin, that was rough and bled a lot. The knight was told that it was a malignant melanoma, which was quickly removed. Yearly check ups reassured him that it was gone and the dangerous diagnosis was forgotten about in time.

After the brown haired boy was born, the knight became quite ill and had to take some drugs to control a medical condition that had nothing to do with the melanoma. The problem was that these drugs seemed to change the knight's personality for the worse and he grew very angry and critical. He started to control the damsel and did not like her seeing family or friends because he wanted her all to himself. After a while the damsel realized that she was in distress. 

She kept hoping her knight would change back into the man she fell in love with. She wished in vain, for he did not.

The years went by and the constant drip, drip, drip of criticism and the barrage of anger started to chip into her personality just like the rock in the photo has been worn down by the wind and sea constantly beating in to it. The damsel knew that the only way to save herself from being worn away was to leave, but she had nowhere to go. She made a secret plan to leave the knight when the boys were older and she could get outside work to support the three of them. This plan seemed to help her to survive the cruel way the knight was now regularly treating her.

Some time after, the knight developed agonizing headaches and was sick most of the time. It was not long before he was admitted to hospital with a brain tumour. The malignant melanoma had started to spread. An operation was quickly done to remove the tumour and it looked as though the knight would be saved for a while and be able to go back to work.

'This fairy tale is going seriously wrong!'

The problems after the operation started escalating. The anger worsened and the fair haired boy was heard to say, 'When my dad gets angry, my heart shakes so badly, I feel it will burst.' The brown haired boy also admitted that he was afraid of his father.

Now that people knew that, the damsel had no choice but to choose between her boys and the knight. She knew that she loved the boys more and chose them. The knight had to find somewhere else to live for a while, because he found it difficult to manage family life.

People were now divided into two opposing sides. The knight was obviously ill and looked vulnerable in his wheelchair, bald headed and scarred and unable to do much unaided. Some people were very sorry for him and said that the damsel was a disgrace, leaving her sick knight in his hour of need. The other side said that he had brought it all on by himself, with his uncontrolled anger and criticism. They felt sorry for the damsel and all she had to put up with.

Friends tried to help the knight, but he got too sick and had to go back into hospital.

The hospital does not seem to know what is wrong with him.

'Shouldn't people live happily ever after in a fairy tale?'

Neither the knight nor the damsel are happy, but the damsel is recovering from the constant verbal abuse.

But the fair haired boy and the brown haired boy laugh and sing and make a noise without fear and are growing  in confidence again. They seem to have gained the most in this not so lovely fairy tale.

At the moment there is no ending...............