How to Survive a Tree Falling on You - Track #7

Apr 3

Apr 3 How to Survive a Tree Falling on You - Track #7

One of the hardest parts of this experience was the man in the room across the hall.

All day and all night he would sporadically yell “Hey! Hey! What about me?!”

He had the same tone and cadence every…single…time.

“Hey! Hey! What about me?!”

One night, when the nurses were changing shifts, the new nurse asked if I needed anything, I said “earplugs.” She looked confused.

Around midnight, she totally understood.

The the thing is, what was most painful about his yelling wasn’t the incessant repetitiveness. It was that it reminded me of how alone he must have felt.

If he kept yelling “Hey! Hey! What about me?!” it meant that he felt people forgot about him. I don’t know if that was true. I don’t know if he had any friends or family come see him. I don’t know if the nurse came at every call. I don’t know if he was taken care of in every way but still was compelled to yell.

I don’t know. And I probably never will. But it broke my heart every single time to hear someone feel that alone and neglected.

It made me feel grateful to feel so loved and taken care of by so many friends and family.

And it made me feel a little scared that over time that could all change - and one day I might find myself alone…yelling for someone to care for me.