Memento Mori

Yeah, it's a little shocking to see your brother's forehead looking flatter

and lower than you're used to because the doctors took out a chunk of his skull,

And a little disturbing that he sounds like an old man when he talks

because he had a ventilator tube down his throat for several days.

He has trouble remembering which person talking to him is the doctor,

or the nurse

or somebody's relative,

and did he get hurt swimming or was it a rollerblading accident?

But he still sits on the couch in the same way

with his legs crossed at the ankle and knees wide apart.

And you've seen him this level of confused and hard to understand

when he's drunk,

so that's not actually so bad.

He still makes the same kind of jokes

(How do you wake up Lady Gaga? You poke 'er face)

and remembers people from high school.

He probably has a more accurate memory of high school than you do.

You don't know much about his years there

cuz you were a kid and nobody told you anything.

But you barely even remember your own.

You know what you do remember though?

Every single piece of dialogue from The Fellowship of the Ring.

Or you did at one point anyway.

You used to play the movie in your head on long boring car rides.

You wonder if your skills would ever be useful.

Maybe if you were flung back into the medieval days,

you could be a bard and entertain people

with your recollection of that epic tale.

But they probably wouldn't be very impressed,

because all you have memorized is the movie,

not the book,

So it loses something without the visuals.

What skills do you have that are useful now?

You notice your brother's arm keeps falling off the side of the couch

while he's watching TV,

So you move a chair next to him to rest it on.

He doesn't seem to notice you did it,

but he looks more comfortable now.