Riches to rags

Loss and resilience…

Haruki: So what happened was that Masayoshi mortgaged his house and his business to support his son’s software enterprise. But the son lost it all so at the end of his life Masayoshi lost his business and ended up losing his house too. Nothing left.

Kazuo: Makes estate planning easy, I guess. Nothing in the will for family to squabble over.

川の流れのように

Haruki: Families squabble over remaining money in unfair wills. But if one family member wasted the family fortune, the family social fabric is just as torn. 

Kazuo: Resentment against the prodigal son, so to speak.

Haruki: In Masayoshi’s case it was property that was lost. But I was at a concert the other night. Lady in some pain came on and sang. Smiled all the way through. Nice voice. Heard later she has advanced cancer but wants to perform to the end. Just like Misora Hibari. About the same age too, early fifties.

_________

Voice-over

Losing property is frustrating but having your life cut short is something you can’t get back.

When Breath Becomes Air

Breaking the news at a hospital bedside…

Doctor: How do you feel?

George: Dreadful night. Didn’t think I’d make it. What is it?

Doctor: I was puzzled why we weren’t making progress. We ran some more tests. We got the latest results.

George: And?

Doctor: George. It’s cancer. In the lungs.

George: (blinks) Well, that’s a relief. We know what it is now.

Doctor: We can approach this two ways. One, stitch up the lung, buy you a little more time. Or two, give you medications and make you feel more comfortable.

George: Not keen on intervention. I’m 99. Give me some relief.

Doctor: Then let’s do that.

________

Voice-over

George had Stage IV adenocarcinoma. At 99, he was not in his thirties like Paul Kalanithi, suffering from the same cancer who with his youth, vitality, knowledge, top-line attending doctors didn’t make it past 37. His memoir, “When Breath Becomes Air” was an inspiring bestseller. At 99, the chances of coming through an operation are very low, and surviving more than a year lower yet. Palliative care: make the patient comfortable.