“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
I’m a firm believer in the power of literature, and not just standard books, but also literature that involves oral storytelling. You see, stories have the power to pull us from reality into a world where our worries seem to melt away. They allow us to bond with characters who, like us, may be facing hardships. We can relate to the characters, and we might even grow to care for them by the end of the book. Stories help carry us away from our everyday lives, and they sometimes even allow us to get lost in a new world, create new stories, and make us think harder. Stories may force us to consider a new point of view or can even inspire us (like how the quote above often inspires me). Some stories change us.
A while ago, at the very beginning of 2020, I read a book called Tomorrow by Damian Dibben. It’s one of the most beautiful stories that’s ever been put into my brain, and I think about it often.
It’s a completely touching tale of historical non-fiction told from the point of view of an immortal dog who waits for his immortal master to return to the place where they lost each other.
It’s a story of love, heartbreak, loyalty, and pain. It’s one of the rare books these days that has such a fantastic twist and an ending that you never see coming (and that also doesn’t feel disappointing or rushed). It’s truly a beautiful book.
Not long after I read it, I thought about immortality. There is a high price paid for it in the book, and I wondered if I had the chance, would I make myself and my dog immortal? (Read that blog here.)
The book makes me think, and I know if I share it with others, it will make them think too.
Right now, my grandma is trapped alone with her own mind. She’s on a ventilator, in a comatose state (due to heavy sedation), but the medical staff believes she can hear us. According to a study done by the US National Library of Medicine, as much as 84 percent of people can recall some of the things that happened in their room while they were sedated and on a ventilator. To me, this means that there may be a chance that my grandma can hear the things going on around her but can’t respond. As someone who used to battle her own mind, the thought of being alone with just my thoughts—with no way to communicate with others—terrifies me. I wish I could pull her out of her head and give her relief.
I plan to go see her Wednesday. The hospital allows one person a day for one hour a day. I wondered, if she can hear me, what should I say? What would help her? What would give her relief?
For as long as I can remember, the thing that’s given me relief when I need to get away from my own thoughts is stories. I listen to my audiobooks any chance I get. When I’m not listening to them, I’m thinking about the storyline and what might happen next.
A thought occurred to me: What if I tell her stories? Studies show that talking to comatose patients, and even reading them stories, can have stimulating benefits on the brain, which is working hard to heal the body.
I thought hard about a story that would be worth telling her—one of hope and the importance of pushing forward—something to inspire her (and maybe even me) to never give up. Tomorrow is just that. In Tomorrow, the dog waits for his master to return for 175 years, never losing hope that he might one day come back. The dog goes through quite a bit of terrible things throughout the book, but eventually, they are reunited.
It’s a book I couldn’t put down, and one I plan to read to my grandma while I can. My hope is that, at the very least, it gives her brain something to think about, and at the very best, inspires her to never lose hope either.
It’s easy to feel hopeless during these dark times. This pandemic feels never-ending. As I lay awake in my bed Sunday, feeling hopeless, I remembered the tattoo I have on me and thought, “How could I forget?” Rebellions are built on hope. It’s a line from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The message behind the quote is that even when times feel bleak, even when the world is falling apart and everything seems lost, hope is what moves people forward; it’s what changes the world.
Right now, the world needs stories of hope. I need hope. My grandma needs hope. My family needs hope. When you can’t control a situation, it’s hope for a better tomorrow that often pulls us through. It’s the main message in the book Tomorrow.
I really don’t know what you say to a person on a ventilator who can’t respond to you, so I’ll turn to a book, as I often do, and read her a story of hope.
“Tomorrow we begin again…” – Tomorrow, Damian Dibbens
I hope your grandma gets better soon ):
I’m glad she has a grand-daughter as nice as you to read to her.