Living death – life’s accounts

Based on a true story – Written by Symon T. Taylor


11 years old – Life seems so simple, let’s take it away Uncle Tom.

I had a next door neighbor, English by nature, and full of heart. His name was Tom, known him all my life; he was like a grandfather to me. I never really had a grandfather; my grandpa on my dad’s side died when I was only 1 year old, and my grandpa on my mum’s side abandoned the family after giving my grandma 10 children. My Uncle Tom took the grandfather roll in my life, that’s how I looked up to him even though he was not part of the family. But we treated him like it.
I remember, during the day, I would run over to his house next door and feed his goldfish in the pond he had. After that, we would re-fill his seed basket for the local parrots and cockatoos to feast upon. I liked seeing the birds fly down upon his hands, he looked like a King of nature to me.
He respected nature, you could tell by the size of his garden; it was like a forest. I remember I had a little sanctuary in their backyard, between two willow trees. The little branches and twigs came together to form a sort of a cave between the leaves; very magical.
At age 8, it was two years since we last saw Uncle Tom; two years since we moved to our new home. Dad received a call from Tom’s wife, Mavis. Uncle Tom was in hospital with Leukemia. My dad told the family and I, and made plans to go visit him the next day.
I remember that morning. I remember every single detail of it. How could I forget?
I woke up extra early, rearing with excitement. I could see my Uncle Tom once again! I ran into my brother’s room to get him up. He got up straight away. Together we stormed into our parent’s room and jumped into their bed. We shook our parents saying “Get up! Get up! Gonna see Uncle Tom today!”
The despair in their eyes confused us. Mum cuddled my brother and my dad cuddled me. Both my brother and I were in the middle, waiting for a response… Dad told us that Uncle Tom had passed away through the night. He told us he couldn’t hold on any longer.
I cried a river that mourning, and the rest of the day was clouded. It was because of the fact that we had failed to see them in so long, and they meant something so important. Even though he cannot hear me now…. Goodbye Uncle Tom…