" Up with the Elders - An Intensely Moving Record of Vigilance "

Author: Wang Jinguang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: "As we grow older, our parents grow smaller." The author comes from a family with ill parents. With no time for personal career, the focus of life shifts to caring for the daily needs and medical treatment of the elderly. The parents, suffering from illness, are unreasonable, making baseless suspicions and doubts, plunging the family into an abnormal state. The author recalls their personal experiences over the years in detail, pouring out their emotions completely, presenting readers with a genuine yet complex emotional journey filled with sorrow, resentment, understanding, and guardianship, thereby sparking readers' reflections on life, responsibility, the current state of elderly care, and the healthcare system.
I carefully wiped my mother's body with warm water, cleaning the stains of blood left on her lips after vomiting. Every movement was respectful and heartfelt. "Mom, let's get dressed—" "Mom, let's put on socks—" "Mom—" As I dressed her, I whispered softly. Mother lay in my arms, allowing me to move her without any reaction. I combed her messy white hair one last time before I couldn't hold back any longer. Tears fell onto her face. Past memories. Between heaven and earth.
Chapter Home
Father sat in the front seat, while I sat in the back. In the evening, streetlights flashed past the window as I looked up and saw my father's white hair. For the first time, I realized how old my father had become—I was probably under 70 then. I silently calculated that if my father could live another ten years, it would only be 3,650 days, or 87,600 hours—this was all the time I would have with my father. Thinking this way, I couldn't help but tear up.
Chapter Lonely Garden
"As we grow older, our parents grow smaller." The author lives in a family with ill parents, leaving no time for personal career and focusing on caring for the daily needs and medical treatment of the elderly. The sick father is unreasonable, making baseless suspicions and doubts, placing the family in an abnormal state. The author recalls their personal experiences over the years in detail, pouring out their emotions completely, presenting readers with a genuine yet complex emotional journey filled with sorrow, resentment, understanding, and guardianship, thereby sparking readers' reflections on life, responsibility, the current state of elderly care, and the healthcare system.