Last night I had been in the apartment of the girl beside me, the one who was in a car accident 2 or 3 weeks ago and had broken every bone of her body. She's hospitalized and bed-ridden, completely unable to sit up or do anything herself.Major surgeries had to happen, and it will be a year before she can even start physical therapy and go to a nursing home. The process ahead of her will be long and difficult.
Going into her apartment last night to care for her cat was so difficult. The place was untouched, left just as it was on that horrific day. Hanging in her bedroom was the outfit she had planned on wearing the next day. On her refrigerator was the "to do" list she will not get to.
If that apartment was completely empty, it would be easier. But there is a life inside that apartment. Someone is waiting for Jen to return, and the wait ahead is going to be such a long one. A very old and fragile cat is a waiting, waiting...alone all the time...perhaps dying a slow death from having a broken heart.
I lost it when I got back to my apartment. This tragedy hit so close to home for me. Jen was just like me, a single girl who moved into this apartment complex after having her heart broken. She wasn't invested here yet, as evidenced by the not-yet-unpacked boxes, even though she has been living here a year. You can feel the sadness in that apartment, and her life has just gotten more difficult.
I cried like a baby last night because I realized that this could happen to any one of us. All of us are just one inch away from personal tragedy. All of us are so fragile.
