People relationship diagram
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"Over the past five years, funerals responsible for the public health sector have risen by 12 percent. More and more people are dying alone. ”
I don't know if you have ever thought of such a scene: on the verge of death, I am alone at home, looking at the empty room, slowly waiting for death...
It was a future I couldn't imagine, too lonely. Man is always a gregarious animal, longing for warmth, longing for companionship.
If you're alone right now, read this book, which might help you.
Andrew, 42, likes the Model Train of the Scottish Trapeze R176 model best because it was a gift from her sister. Collecting model trains also seems to have become his greatest hobby over the years. But until her sister Sally died, she probably didn't know Andrew's heart.
That's right, Sally is dead. The siblings had not seen each other before, and had maintained telephone communication for more than twenty years, and it was once every three months, because they had nothing to say.
Looking back, Andrew was a lonely man, ever since he was a child. When he was three years old, his father died of a heart attack, and this change did not make his relationship with his sister any better.
“
"The sister either slammed the door in front of her or screamed to keep herself away from her, and when Andrew occasionally had the courage to confront her sister, the two would only beat each other viciously."
Andrew often thought that maybe his father would act as their peacemaker if he was there, and that he and his sister might be closer. Some people may ask, what about the mother? Mother would not meddle in their quarrels, for she was always lying in bed in grief.
Something to say early
The lack of fatherly and maternal love makes two children miss love at the age when they need love most, so they desire love more than anyone else, and they can't express love more than anyone. The two closest siblings, because they do not want to face the unfortunate family and avoid each other, and because of the blood connection, they want to be close to each other.
However, things seem to have turned around, and when Sally was 16 years old, she met her boyfriend Spike.
"Her change was immediate, as if Spike had fixed a pressure valve in her body and all her anger was instantly drained."
Sally started playing with Andrew and introducing him to his girlfriend, andrew had never known his sister could be so gentle. However, when he thought he had finally had a competent sister after all the hardships, Sally and Spike eloped.
"Since then, her mother's state has been extremely unstable, either angrily roaring and scolding Sally, who has run away from home, or crying bitterly at Andrew, the only child who is currently around, constantly making him swear that he will not leave him."
A few years later, when Andrew received his college acceptance letter, his bedridden mother finally couldn't hold on, ironically, Andrew's heart did not feel a trace of sadness, and his sister disappeared for more than half a year.
What Andrew did not expect was that when his mother was dying, his sister, who had come and gone without a trace, had returned. However, after the funeral, she disappeared again. When she returned three days later, Andrew thought his sister had been reluctant to him, not just because she had been dumped by Spike.
The sister's escape from the family makes Andrew truly a person.
Whether it's where her sister goes, or whether she's supposedly married to a guy named Carl from the gym, it doesn't seem to have anything to do with him...
After the funeral, brother-in-law Carl kept sending letters to tell Andrew that Sally was heartbroken to death because of Andrew's indifference again and again, even though he knew that the brother-in-law only wanted Sally to leave him a legacy, but just thinking that Sally was one percent likely to die because of his indifference, Andrew was heartbroken and could not breathe.
In the text, "Whenever his sister was kind enough to care, Andrew would always let her get out of the way." He wanted to apologize and tell her that of course her concern was important to him, but he couldn't open his mouth when he was talking. It can be seen that although Andrew complains about his sister, he actually needs Sally's care, but the shadow of childhood makes him choose to be autistic.
Andrew had been lying, and all his colleagues thought he had a four-room villa, a kind wife, and a pair of lovely children, only because of the little lie he had told when his boss, Cameron, asked about his family during the initial interview. But he was really just a bachelor living in a damp, dilapidated single room. Although this lie kept him on guard, it made him happy.
"He got a great opportunity today to indulge his fantasies and be completely immersed in the imagination of owning a family, even for a few minutes. It turns out that living a normal life is so incredible, both exciting and frightening. ”
When we see the back of the book, we will find that such a life was once within his reach. Because the fictional wife Diana used to be his college girlfriend.
During college, Andrew, who had shaken off the family that had suffocated him, earned the love he had craved most in twenty years. Diana, the college girlfriend, is so lively and caring, they kiss, hug, and even think about the future life, the future child's name Stephen and David.
However, one morning, everything was ruined. Diana hummed "Blue Moon" and went out to buy their daily necessities and never came back. A storm caused the stone to fall and hit the unfortunate Diana.
Some people say that people die in an instant, and this moment dies not only Diana, but also Andrew. Andrew's time seemed frozen in that moment. Whenever he heard "Blue Moon", he felt heartache like crazy, he refused to go to Diana's graveyard, he fantasized about his own family, with Diana and the children, it seemed that Diana was eternal in his world, which was his driving force forward.
Even if he had to lie every day, even if he was fired after being discovered, Andrew was not willing to voluntarily give up this beautiful lie.
Andrew didn't want to end up alone
(Live in the moment and embrace love)
Andrew's job is to deal with death. His tasks were to deal with funeral directors, arrange funeral ceremonies, publish obituaries in local newspapers, register deaths, trace the families of the deceased, and pay for funeral expenses by auctioning off the deceased's estate.
Andrew's first contact with the deceased was an old lady who, though alone, looked serene. However, Andrew found her suicide note less serene: make sure my evil slutty neighbor doesn't get anything! She would definitely come and ask for my wedding ring – remember my words.
If you were surprised for the first time, Andrew wouldn't be surprised by now. Most people who die alone always have strange relatives or friends after death to ask for money, but in fact, they can't even call the name of the deceased.
It's terrible to die alone.
Maybe it's because of empathy and not wanting the deceased to die alone. Even when not on the job, Andrew always likes to accompany the deceased through the final part of the road – the funeral, even if most of the time, the funeral is only him, the deceased and the priest.
Originally, Andrew thought his life would go on like this - working, playing with model trains, going to forums and nagging at netizens, lying. But the presence of one man changed everything.
New colleague Paige is a married cheerful woman, although her marriage does not seem to be happy, the alcoholic husband bored her, but for the sake of the children, she decided to keep such an unfortunate life as it is, she forgives her husband Steve again and again, believing in his false promises that he will never drink again.
Paige energizes Andrew's otherwise lonely job, and she takes Andrew to a bar to relax after the stinking house is cleaned, and they chat and laugh together. In front of her, Andrew seemed to be able to say all the words he had suppressed in his heart.
Paige would accompany Andrew through the last leg of the journey, and even they would begin to look for the story of the deceased,000,000 feet a bit, such as:
Although Ellen died alone, he actually had a girlfriend, Beryl, who separated due to improper communication, and when Belleer learned that Ellen was dead, she regrettably accompanied Alan on the last leg of the road.
The dead began to die no longer alone.
In the slow process of getting along, Andrew gradually falls in love with Paige, who has a warm force in her that makes him want to get closer. And he finds that as he wants to get closer and closer to Peggy, the fictional family is getting farther and farther away from him, and he begins to care more about whether Peggy is happy than the happiness brought by the fantasy family.
Yet lies lie like a mountain between them. Pursuing Paige meant the debunking of lies that he did not dare.
"Although he has just made up his mind to step out of his comfort zone, into Paige's world, and open his heart to Paige, Andrew knows that honesty is an essential trait in a friendship."
Lies will always be debunked one day. Brother-in-law Karl called to tell Andrew that his lies were already known to him and that he would debunk them if he did not hand over his sister's inheritance to himself.
At the same time, Paige also runs away from home because of an argument with her husband, and he hopes that Andrew can receive him, which makes Andrew panic and accept Paige's arrival, which means that the lie will be punctured.
Andrew decides to commit suicide, and refusing to help Paige during her most difficult time leaves him physically and mentally devastated. Just when everything was ready, a phone call from Paige saved everything...
Eventually Andrew tells Paige about his past, lies about Diana.
"You have to trust me — only you can change everything. You can only do it on your own. ”
Paige forgave Andrew and encouraged him to be brave enough to be honest with everyone that things wouldn't turn out so badly.
After some struggle, Andrew confessed everything.
"It's as if someone has pulled out a century-long thorn from my foot." Andrew finally stepped out of the cage he had made for himself. Stop running away and move toward reality.
End
Like all the perfect ends of a story. Andrew's life changed dramatically, he began to exercise, no longer visiting forums, he went to visit Diana's grave for the first time, confessing his cowardice.
He had to stop and wipe his tears with his sleeve, and then he began to touch the tombstone with his hands. He stayed there, quiet, and felt a pain of pure, peculiar joy invade his whole body, and he knew that no matter how much pain he had to accept it, that the cold winter before the spring came had to freeze the ice and snow and destroy his heart before he could embark on the path of healing. ”
After being fired for lying, he plans to use Sally's estate as a charitable fund about finding companions at funerals. He believes that if everyone can do a little more, at least give people a chance to find companionship, and be able to connect with people in similar situations to the deceased, it will not be this kind of unavoidable loneliness.
Everything seems to be getting better.
Andrew is cured, but what about you? Whether it's between Sally and Andrew, or between Alan and Beryl, they care about each other, just lack communication, and live a lonely life with each other, how sad. And Andrew is also reluctant to go out because he is addicted to the pain of the past, and he has been lonely for more than twenty years, how regrettable.
People are always social animals, don't refuse the kindness of others, don't shrink in your own world, boldly come out, life is far better than you think!