The Visitor

Chapter One “What will you miss the most when you’re gone?” The first snowfall was always a magical time for the old man. Although he couldn’t see the snow he could hear it quite well. It seems the many years without his sight had sharpened his other senses in a rather amazing way. His window was left open a tiny bit so he could hear the beauty outside. Just yesterday he heard the last of the geese that were on their way south. He could hear the wind as it whistled when it passed over the opening in the window. He could hear the snow as it played a melody when it fell against the window. The old man drifted back to recall his days as a youngster and remembered the magic of the first snow. When he was a child he would stick out his tongue to catch a snowflake. He had learned in school that all snowflakes are different. This meant that the snowflake on his tongue was special and that made it special to him. Through the opening in the window the old man listened to the snow and visualized how pretty it would be as it stuck to the trees and bushes. His thoughts drifted back to the days of when he could see. He remembered how pretty Christmas cards were that showed the snow falling upon a Christmas tree. The tree was decorated for the holidays and it was surrounded by white doves. There was a snowman next to the tree with coal eyes, a carrot nose and a red and white scarf around his neck. He thought about how much fun it was to ride a sled down the hill that was not far from his childhood home. He remembered the smell of hot chocolate and the sound of children laughing as they threw snowballs at each other. Yes indeed, the snow had a magic of its own. It was so peaceful. He closed his eyes and ............. there was a knock on the door. The nurse always knocked on the door before she came in. She knew that many of the patients in the nursing home went to bed rather early. Some of the patients needed to take their medicine just before bedtime. She loved working at night. It was quiet and she loved the people who were in her care. She knew that the people in the nursing home would spend their last days of life here. And in knowing that, she made their last days as special as possible. She had seen so many spend their last few days here. She could remember the names of all of them. Many, whose minds were still sharp, thanked her for her kindness. It was their way of saying goodbye to a friend. However she had a special concern about the old man in 3C. He had only been in the nursing home for a few days. His wife had died a few days earlier and the old man’s health was getting worse since his arrival. She felt sad for the old man. He was blind and it seemed he had given up on life. The old man was lying in his bed. Next to him on a table were pictures of his son and of his wife. Next to the pictures there was a Braille watch and a small pebble. The old man had told someone earlier that the pebble was a tiny piece of lava rock from the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. There was also a pair of dark sunglasses on the table. The old man had worn sunglasses ever since he became blind but this pair of sunglasses was given to him by his recently deceased wife. “You have a visitor,” said the nurse. “There is a young man here who wants to ask you some questions. He seems very nice and said that it would help him greatly.” The old man didn’t say anything but the nurse figured it might be good for the old man to talk to someone. As usual the nurse wrote down the time to record the time she had checked in on the old man. It was 9:36 PM. The young man took a seat next to the bed. He politely held open the door for the nurse as she left the room and told her, “Thank you.” The old man looked toward the young man. When the young man had spoken to the nurse, the old man thought he recognized the voice from somewhere. The old man remembered when he was young and how wonderful it was to just be starting life. . The visitor looked at the old man. His face had the lines of time written into the many wrinkles around the eyes. The old man had a white beard that displayed character and wisdom of the ages. Although he was blind the old man had beautiful brown eyes. The young man could only think of what the old man had seen when he could see — or never saw because of his lack of sight. Without hesitation the young man started talking. “I wanted to talk to someone who has lived a long life so it could help me in mine.” The old man was always quick to help someone if he could so he simply looked at the young man and spoke in a faint voice. “Yeah, sure, what can I help you with?” Again, the young man did not hesitate. “When did you really start feeling...well...old?”