These are the words I used in the multimedia performance of Ultimate Living, with some of the images:
Ultimate Living:
Often. in the hospice. I washed my dad. Freshening him up through the day.
Just because he has died, I’m not going to stop.
He must have washed me ALL OVER like this when I was a small baby.
gently gently
Just like him now. I didn’t cooperate. I couldn’t
Just like me then, he’s BEAUTIFUL. To eyes that can see.
gently gently gently
admiring his cheekbones,
amazed by his ENORMOUS TEETH. Now he’s dead.
gently gently
Draining the last of his body heat away.
SO much heavier now. Than when he was alive.
I’m taking his dead weight.
gently
It’s the Ultimate in Family Living
Check out the stories from before this – of how my dad and I talked about his last skiing Black Run (1), and then he did some Deathbed Skiing (2). Later, I was with him when he took his last breath (3).