“When men die, they die in fear", he said. "They take everything they need from you, and as a doctor it is your job to give it, to comfort them, to hold their hand. But children die how they have been living - in hope. They don't know what's happening, so they expect nothing, they don't ask you to hold their hand - but you end up needing them to hold yours. With children, you're on your own. Do you understand?”
I am really enjoying the book, although I tend to read in fits and starts these days. I no longer plow through in one furious bit. This moment is the grandfather character, who is a doctor, speaking to his granddaughter, the narrator of the book, about what she will face when she becomes a doctor. What struck me about this quote was it touched on my greatest fear - my son becoming ill or simply something terrible happening to him that is beyond my control. How do you articulate death and loss to someone so young and innocent? Since having Hank this is a place my mind goes to from time to time. Particularly because we know people who have lost children. Heartbreaking stories that would make you shiver and then flee from them. I won't go into it here. It is the most awful thing one could fathom happening in life and yet it does happen. And what is so terrible is that children are so innocent and full of hope and undeserving of this. I am not sure where I am going with this just that the quote shook me to the core.
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