On Reaching the End

The Awkward Conversations you have, when one of you is Dying

The Conversation

“You’re burying me.”

Spoken not in the interrogative voice with the implied “aren’t you?” at the end. Spoken instead in the declarative, as a statement of fact.

This statement wasn’t made as a musing out loud to herself. It came in the middle of a conversation about replacing the queen size futon couch with something smaller to open up the room. She had asked, once again if I was certain I didn’t mind her redecorating the bedroom and replacing some of the furniture. Once again, I had replied with the “whatever makes you happy” response that has become my “go to” answer this last year. That’s when she interjected this disquieting statement and waited for my response.

My wife has a genius level IQ and it can be difficult at times to follow her conversational thread. She frequently “task switches” in her head and maintains dozens of conversational threads at one time in memory. Our conversation at times can seem to be filled with non sequiturs. Moving from thread to thread as our discussion sparks ideas about different topics and we advance our ongoing conversations about multiple topics.

However, I am not as fast as she is. Sometimes, I just lose track and can’t tell what the hell she’s talking about…