This week I read a lovely letter, written by Simon Boas in the Jersey Evening Post. You can find the full length version on their website. Simon used the letter to announce that his cancer had progressed and that he did not have long to live. It is beautifully written, and I have edited a few extracts, which you can read below.
1
My favourite bit of understatement ever
comes not from a Brit or a Spartan but from the Japanese Emperor Hirohito. In
August 1945… he broadcast that “the war situation has developed not necessarily
to Japan’s advantage”.
Well, I’m sorry to have to announce that my
cancer situation has also developed not necessarily to my advantage.
2
The prognosis is not quite “Don’t buy any
green bananas”, but it’s pretty close to “Don’t start any long books”.
3
I have been a Samaritan and a policeman,
and got off an attempted-murder charge in Vietnam (trumped up, to extract a
bribe). I have seen whales and tigers and bears in the wild. I have seen air
strikes, rockets and gun battles… [I’ve] been shot in the leg and pulled one of
my own teeth out. the book of my life is shorter than others, it is not less of
a good read.
4
If I whine that my life will have been
shorter than many modern people’s I am massively missing the point. I’ve
existed for 46 years. It’s as churlish as winning the £92m Euromillions jackpot
and then complaining bitterly when you discover that there’s another winning
ticket and you’ll only get half the money.
5
When you say – as you do, 20 times a day –
“I’m fine”, realise that you don’t just mean “I’m adequate”. You are FINE.
Refined. Unique. Finely crafted; fine dining; fine china! You really are fine
in that sense too.
Vocabulary:
understatement
– the making of something seem smaller or less significant than it really is
a prognosis
– the expected future course of a medical condition
[eg., “The
doctor told me that my illness had a poor prognosis.]
a Samaritan – Someone who goes out of their way to help others (from a story in the Bible)
a trumped
up charge – a charge invented as an excuse or a false accusation
[eg., In that country, enemies of the government are sometimes arrested on trumped up charges.]
to whine – to complain too much, in an annoying tone
to be
churlish – to be rude in a mean-spirited and surly way
[eg., It
would be churlish to complain about the poor service in the hotel today after
the staff were so friendly yesterday.]
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