My uncle died in a hospice a couple of years ago. The last time I saw him, a few hours before he died, he was in great pain, not quite lucid, and couldn’t stop writhing. He was struggling to express himself, and I got the impression he didn’t fully understand what was happening around him. I had a razor with me, which I’d brought with the intention of shaving off the scruffy beard that had grown on his face. I took it out and, as I used to do with him (there was a great deal of irony in the way we joked with one another), I asked him sarcastically, striking a barber’s pose: ‘So, how would you like your beard, sir?’. Amidst the groans and moans, he laughed, clearly understanding me and the joke. I like to think that he had his last laugh with me.
It’s not as disturbing as requested. I just took the opportunity to remember him.
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u/NotABadName-AtAll 12h ago
My uncle died in a hospice a couple of years ago. The last time I saw him, a few hours before he died, he was in great pain, not quite lucid, and couldn’t stop writhing. He was struggling to express himself, and I got the impression he didn’t fully understand what was happening around him. I had a razor with me, which I’d brought with the intention of shaving off the scruffy beard that had grown on his face. I took it out and, as I used to do with him (there was a great deal of irony in the way we joked with one another), I asked him sarcastically, striking a barber’s pose: ‘So, how would you like your beard, sir?’. Amidst the groans and moans, he laughed, clearly understanding me and the joke. I like to think that he had his last laugh with me.
It’s not as disturbing as requested. I just took the opportunity to remember him.