THE REUNION…THE HEARTBREAK OF DEMENTIA

It was a long flight, and I was exhausted
Sitting with eager anticipation in the airport taxi
I saw her last three years ago
My farewell then was a painful blow

I recall how she hugged me lovingly
Before releasing me reluctantly
Tears welling in her eyes as she gazed at me
Her hands on my cheeks as she held onto me

I looked into her eyes, broke down and cried
I tore myself away, my eyes trying to avoid
It felt like pulling on an unyielding rope
A rope held by my mother, a bond that never broke

That was three years ago when I left home
Home, which, in a way, is still home
The pulse of Sri Lanka in my heart still beats away
Yet, it is not home either, in a strange way

Home is where I breathe, love and live; my oasis
Home is where I work and play as my basis
Home is everything around me now; my nest
Home is my house in Manchester, at best

I got out of the taxi, suitcase in hand
Faithful maid Alice holding the front door ajar
She held my hands with both hands tightly
Trying hard to control her emotions politely

“Rathatharan mahattayo, enna, enna athulata”
A brave face, a stoic face, a gentle face
I went in and saw my mother seated in a chair
She was staring ahead, seeing but not seeing

Puzzled but her face just as I remember her
I went up to her and knelt beside her
and held her hands in my moist, trembling hands
My heart broke when she said, “And who are you?”

I broke down and sobbed, “Amma, it is Mahendra”
She looked hard at me and said
“You can’t be; my Mahendra is in England”
She then shifted her gaze to Alice.

“Alice, have you got the meal ready?"
"Loku mahattya will be home soon"
Loku Mahattaya was my father, no more
He Passed away a full ten years before

Footnote:
“Rathatharan mahattayo, enna, enna athulata”
Beloved sir, come in , come in.
"Amma" is mother
"Loku Mahattaya" is the “Chief, the Boss"