Tumor

Some times you think to yourself…life sucks. And most of the time you’re right. The other day my mom asked me if I wanted to go around Quito and visit the terminally ill. How could I say no? I was under the impression that we would be visiting a hospital in Quito, my parents are friends with the director of one of the best hospitals in Ecuador, I was wrong. We actually were going to visit people who didn’t have the money to go to the hospital, who laid in bed, dying, at home. The first house we visited, was in a poorer neighborhood. I was reminded a lot of images I have seen of favelas in Brazil. It was eerie, completely empty streets, not a person in sight, and standing on top of this hilly street I have one of the best views in Quito. It was relaxing, peaceful, I was happy I decided to go out with my mom because I knew I never would have seen this view if I didn’t come. I forgot why I was there. I was lead inside a tin roof home with dirt floors. An old man greeted us, he held a large broom that he used to keep his 2 small dogs away from the door and us. We then went inside the bedroom and I saw her. She looked anywhere from 90 to 120. She was 76. When you picture an old sick woman, this is the image that pops in your head. As I approached her she started sobbing. What do you say when an old woman, who has days left in her life, a tumor bigger than a basketball in her left leg, and you don’t even speak her language. Nothing. You sit and listen to the same prayer repeated over and over. The sobs becoming part of your mind, like the static you hear when you sit in a quite room for too long. You look around and see how little this person has and think about how little this person has had their whole life. The bed that is plywood with a couple of blankets, the few photos of Jesus hanging on the dull blue walls, piles of nothing, and the one uncomfortable couch that you have been gratefully offered. Now they lay in agony, dying, praying to a god who won’t hear them. Sometimes people will tell you to live life to the fullest and take advantage of this wonderful gift you have, but sometimes people get dealt a bad hand and not much can be done about that. Because sometimes…life just sucks.