its all real.
this has been my life since november.
love your grandparents, please.
Mima / Discussion
This is the discussion related to the wiki page Mima.
this sort of thing was on my mind the last time my grandparents came over. you don't pay attention to the time until it's almost gone.
This work is brutal. Prose tighter than a stitch, not a word wasted — it's almost poetry. Almost a medical report in sterility, but with the most gorgeous prismatic blooms divvying up the spectrum below the paper. Have you read The 36 Hour Day? A thing I see some writers try to do, which traps them and makes them less powerful, is writing two works around each other — a poem within a prose, a small essay expounding upon the world within. When I saw the formatting here, before I read any of the words, I thought you would fall prey to the same.
But then I read the first line, which hit me like a fist of concrete from a skyscraper. And then I read the second line. And the third.
This work is incredibly powerful and strong like rebar-reinforced walling. Beautiful, tragic: mist with fireflies inside. This tastes like pureed potatoes and overboiled asparagus and stale white bread, with a star chef's strawberry shortcake on the side. I weep, and I take a choking breath of joy for that your name is remembered again.
-Styg
What is life if not the contrast between what has been and what will become?
Formula:
I will be rating your work's aptitude on several factors using a scale of 1 to 7; with 1 being the lowest rating, and 7 being the highest.
Then, I will take the added scores from each area. If the total score is above 18, it will earn a +. If the total score is below 18, it will earn a -. If the score is exactly 18, it will earn a novote.
I will be rating your work's aptitude on several factors using a scale of 1 to 7; with 1 being the lowest rating, and 7 being the highest.
Then, I will take the added scores from each area. If the total score is above 18, it will earn a +. If the total score is below 18, it will earn a -. If the score is exactly 18, it will earn a novote.
| Score | Area | Comments: |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Imagery | IM NOT CRYING, MY EYES ARE SWEATING |
| 7 | Theme | Fuck. What can I even— Fuck. This hit me like a freight train. I know a lot about dementia (runs in my family), but haven't yet experienced it. I fear the day I will. |
| 7 | Flow | Why does this have to be so good? So sad? So touching? That first fucking line was so brutal, so honest, that I had to read the rest of the piece. Talk about a hook! |
| 6 | Format | Good gracious, this whole piece wraps me in such a cold embrace of emotions I didn't think was possible. The poem is wonderfully entertwined with this work: Beautiful in its own right. |
| Total: 26 |
Fires rage just below the surface of the ice.
I don’t have anything to say, and nothing I could say would do any justice. I hope everything is going well for you and your grandmother.
Thank you for writing this.
-Exi
I feel this on a deep level. I've had family members pass as well. In almost exactly the same circumstances. It's hard. You captured that perfectly.
I watch the yonder hills
See foodwrenches toil in dust
Let their cacophonous calls
Rend our bodies to rust
In the last year or so, I've had two of my three remaining grandparents pass away. While neither of them happened to have dementia, both suffered from conditions that gradually worsen their condition and made them unable to care for themselves. I've written about the experience I had with my grandmother a bit, but I genuinely feel awful for not being there for them more.
This article made me feel. +1, from some deep part of my heart I didn't really know existed until now.
This hits very close to home.
My grandparents died some years ago. I'm not sure if they got dementia per se, but both's cognitive abilities had clearly degenerated in the last years of their life. I had many great memories with them, so seeing them become increadingly detached from the world around them was very hard for me.
This article recalled all the feelings i felt those days. A very well deserved +1
I had to take care of my grandpa some ten odd years ago, and he also had dementia. It was genuinely awful, especially cuz he also had several strokes and had to be intubated, and every morning he would pull out all the tubes and catheters he had on and shit, because he had no idea where he was, or who was around him. One day his mind left, and then about a year later, his body followed.
I genuinely forgot what I was gonna say about the story, but it stroke me in a way I didn't like, because these aren't happy memories. I never heard my name come out of his mouth. That being said, it is of course a really damn good piece, because those memories just came flooding in.
I've been taking care of my grandma (Wife of the previously mentioned grandpa) and she's mentally sound (Honestly even more than most of my family lol) and… Yeah, I gotta echo the message: Talk to your grandparents, and just, your family in general. One day you will not be able to, so treasure the time you have with 'em.
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