The Covenant of Water

by Abraham Verghese

Yes, old man, yes, eyes open to this precious land and its people, to the covenant of water, water that washes away the sins of the world, water that will gather in streams, ponds, and rivers, rivers that float the seas, water that I will never enter.

We don’t have children to fulfill our dreams. Children allow us to let go of the dreams we were never meant to fulfill.

What did it matter? We are dying while we’re living, we are old even when we’re young, we are clinging to life even as we resign ourselves to leaving it.