Points of You story 4: DEVOTED

I am a doctor working at a little clinic. One day an old man in his 80’s walked into my clinic.

He told me he was in a rush, as he had a very important engagement at 9 AM he couldn’t miss. I decided to treat him since the doctor in charge was busy.

While I was gently pulling out his stitches, I asked him where he was off to that was more important than this treatment.

“I am going to have breakfast with my wife, who is in the hospital.”

“Why was she hospitalized, if I may ask?”

“She’s been there for a few years now,” he answered. “She has Alzheimer’s and needs constant care.”

I asked the man if his wife would be worried if he were late to their breakfast.

“No,” he said quietly, “She hasn’t recognized me in over five years.”

“And you go to her every morning although she doesn’t know who you are?”

The man smiled and said: “She may not know who I am, but I know who she is, and I remember for both of us.” And he shook my hand, thanked me and left me standing there, my body shaking with sudden emotion.

By Kevin M.