I’m now reading Still Alice, and she says that she wouldn’t be herself without language, because words and language are part of everything she does as a professor, a researcher, a lecturer, a wife, and a mother. Communication is her life.
I thought this was something interesting to ponder. I think I agree with Alice. I couldn’t be okay with not being able to read or write or communicate with people I care about. No matter that my body would still be whole, a piece of me would be missing. It’s a piece of me I don’t think I’d want to live without.
Some people can’t stand the idea of not being able to walk. Oddly enough, I could live with that. My trusty minion yellow wheelchair is much more reliable and speedy than my feet and legs have ever been.
My vision has been impaired for several months. I don’t know if it’s because of normal age changes or if there is something neurological causing problems. I go to the neuro-opthamologist Friday this week. I hope he can figure out what needs to happen. I would not want to do without my eyes. Yes, there are audiobooks. Yes, there is diction software so that I could continue writing. It wouldn’t be the same, and I would lose part of myself.
So I’m curious. Call it a writing prompt, if you will. What piece of your life would you least like to lose, and why?
If you’d like to share, I hope you will because it’s a conversation that is important to have.
Who am I?
Am I words, thoughts, and language?
I could be anyone
If I could change so many things.
But I can’t.
Am I a shell of a person that’s starting to lose pieces that make me me?
Am I losing words or sight or my cognitive ability?
Will I be the first to know or the last?
Finding Our Voices Together 