Mr. Love

Mr. Love.

Mr. Love is dying. He is very, very old. Sue and I have not been able to find out his age or the birthplace of Mr. Love but we do know that is dying. He told Sue and I, “I’ve just live too long, people don’t care if I am dead or alive, most think that I’m already dead. But let me tell you” he said with a sad smile, “When I am gone the world will know of my passing.”

               This reporter is not really sure what Mr. Love meant by that statement but the way he said it I cannot help but feel that he knows something we do not. I will continue to follow this story.

               “Good morning Sue, How is Mr. Love today?” “He seems about the same” she says as she looks up from the paperwork in front of her. “I don’t think that he will last much longer thought, he just doesn’t want to live anymore.”

               Sue and I have been taking care of Mr. Love on and off for about seven years. He comes to our place whenever he feels the need for rest and wants to get away from the world outside. He told me once,”…And you’ll never know how hard it is for me Jerry, I have to work all the time. Not just days but days and nights, I am always working. There are times that I don’t feel that I am wanted anymore…’’

               Mr. Love is old although he does not look like it. One would say when looking at him that he’s too young to be staying here with us at the rest home. He looks young until you look into his eyes, there his true age shows. When we talk he has corrected me many times in past conversations on things about history or about place in the world that I may have said something about.  He seems to know just about everything but yet we cannot get him to talk about his past. It is usually easy to get older folks to talk about their past but not Mr. Love, he just avoids the questions.

               Mr. Love is said to be the oldest living person in the world today. This reporter has spent time with him and found it hard to believe that this man that looks like he in his fifties could be the oldest person in the world. But all records indicate that he is indeed the oldest living person. His keepers and I use that term lightly, say that he is stable but doesn’t seem to have the will to live any longer. We will keep you updated on this unfolding story.

“Good morning Mr. Love.” That was all that I said. Looking over at him I could tell he was so mad, I couldn’t believe it, I have never seen him like this. I don’t understand what was bothering him. Turning I ask, “Sue, how was he last night?”  Sue looks great as she usually does. Slim, blonde and always put together nicely, never frazzled until today. “Jerry, I am really worried about him. All he did last night was moan and cry. I do not think that he slept at all. Something is really bothering him but he will not talk about it. Frankly I’m scared that he has given up and we will lose him.”

               Somehow it doesn’t seem right that he should be this way. I mean he is so young looking in spite of the test results about his age; he seems to have the weight of the world on his back. He just sits in that room looking at the pastel blue walls doing nothing. He does not even look out the window, just at the wall.  I asked him once, “Mr. Love, what are you thinking about?” He just looked at me and smiled that sad mournful smile like people at a funeral have.

               “I think about people Jerry, I think about what I have to do and what will happen when I do it. A lot of people will be very unhappy but the sad part is that they won’t even know their unhappy. They will think that the way they feel is just normal. I am very sad and I do not feel that I have the right to do it but I do not have a choice. I know all of this but it does not make my decision any easier.” He turned away from me then, crying. I just got up and left for I did not know what to say to make my friend feel any better.

Mr. Love is stable, this reporter tried to get into see Mr. Love today but I was informed that he is not taking any visitors. On another subject, it seems that war is getting nearer all the time. Seems like everyone that I know is feeling it, seems that most people cannot feel good about anything.”

               I am beginning to worry about Sue; she doesn’t seem to have that shine about her anymore. What a grumpy person she has become. Maybe she is just tired. “Jerry! Something is wrong, something is really wrong!” she says as she points to the blinking light above the door on the last room. As I run down the hall to that small blue room on the end I can hear people outside yelling at each other, I hear the sounds of broken glass and screams of pain. One resident even swung at me cursing as I ran by. When I got to Mr. Love’s room I was shocked. The room was a shambles and I just started yelling at Sue.

Mr. Love was sitting on the floor near the broken window. The wall paper was torn and discolored. It hung down in strips like some vandals had broken in and had their way with the room. The bed was torn apart and stained and the room smelled…..old. The carpet was faded and thread bare but that was not the worse, Mr. Love had changed. He looked old, really old. He was just sitting there on the floor not moving. I thought that he was dead. “Mr. Love, Mr. Love can you hear me?” He slowly looked up at me. He didn’t move but just looked up. “Jerry” he said in a tired voice, “I have fought and I have lost. I really tried but I just cannot fight any longer. I have lost and because of that the world has lost.” I leaned in closer to hear him better, “What” I asked, “I don‘t understand I”

               He raised his hand sharply and said, “Do not interrupt me, I do not have time and I must tell you something…..” I waited for him to continue afraid to say anything. It seemed that he did not have the strength to continue. “….about myself” he finished. “I am called Mr. Love but that is more than just my name. And because of what I am all people will now suffer. I have been alive forever; every since man became man and I thought that I would be here until man stopped being man but it seems that I will not. Do you understand what I am trying to say?”

               I just crouched there, my world coming down around me it was now suddenly clear who and what he was. All I could hear is others in pain, I felt hate around me. “Jerry, someone has to know what I am, someone has to know what it is that I am here for. I am dying because no one cares any more. I cannot go on, but you can go on and I will tell you how. The first thing you must do is………”

This reporter cannot comprehend what is happening. It seems that the world is coming apart. No one likes anything, wars between countries and fights between people. The divorce rate is unbelievable. Death and destruction is rampant. I even shot my dog this morning for barking. I cannot stand anything or anyone. God only knows what is happening; there is no love in the world.

               My name was Jerry; I am now called Mr. Love. I have a big job ahead of me. My job, as given to me by my friend who has died, is to bring love back into the world.