The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife

by Anna Johnston

“Well, I guess you can’t always rely on feeling in love. That comes and goes. It’s a decision, too, you know. You have to look after it. The more you can make the other person feel loved, fill their tank as it were, the more they have in their reserve to make you feel loved. It’s a cycle.

What a blessing sleep could be sometimes, a merciful relief from dementia, from pain, from grief. A brief holiday where there were no suitcases full of burdens to carry. In dreams you could forget that you didn’t remember, and remember those who were no longer there.

Love is . . . about picking someone up and never, ever putting them down again, no matter how heavy things become.”

It was funny to think how older people were often clumped together regardless of age. Many folks would consider nursing home residents to be of the same generation; yet Ruby was old enough to be his mother.

“Asking for help isn’t failing, you know—it’s refusing to fail.”