The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Torrential rains forecast yet again, strong winds---what better place to ride them out than the movie theater. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is marvelously filmed, and I am delighted the caregivers are given so much space and understanding. Even the one cradling Jean-Do in the swimming pool.....I do hope people honor the caregivers as a result! The movie is hard going, even knowing the book well, very hard going. Nothing is romanticized, and the respect to a weakened person is wonderful to see. But it leaves the day with a sober overcast, to match the sky here. I am so glad I went to see it--me and three other people in the theater. It is spare enough, like the book, for us to see everyone around the helpless person, and, hopefully, to be more aware!

The perfect antidote to T is for Trespass (Sue Grafton), with its portrait of a hurtful, greedy, dishonest caregiver. Trying to write a book review with the audiobook is hard, but there are 382 people on the library waiting list! But I see that a hard copy will cost a full $27! Maybe later.....

I still twist around in "caregiver re-entry," the central fact of my existence. Yes, I am trying to write an essay on this, too. Here, in beautiful downtown paradise, I feel so strongly the struggle to "be in the world." Part of the difficulty is that I don't know anyone who sees or understands that struggle, and how far it is to get back.

Jean-Dominique Bauby gave me courage!