Seen a body alive without its soul?
It’s why I feel I understand more what a soul is in life. Corabelle taught me many years ago what it looks like when your soul leaves and your body isn’t allowed to die, at least that’s what my gut tells me I saw.
Cora was a full on spitfire when I first met her. She was known for being full on torment to the nursing staff, hitting, biting, pulling hair when you dressed her. Spitting food or throwing her tray at mealtimes. Never a nice word to say until you got to know her.
I got to know Cora…she was just as pleasant once you did as she had been unpleasant in the months prior. She’d greet you with as much life and vigor as a 5 year old child if you took time to know her and how to approach her. I loved Cora and we spent a lot of time talking over the 4 years I cared for her. She was fun, playful, what my Aussie friend would call cheeky.
Then, one day…Cora just out of the blue told me that an angel told her last night that she was about to die…and she suddenly quit eating, and refused her meds, she told her daughter this same thing when she visited that evening. Her daughter immediately had her removed from our care and taken to a hospital.
Cora came back 3 days later with a feeding tube, all her meds the same except pushed through the feeding tube. Cora though was a different person than the one who left. She stared off into nothingness with a thousand yard stare. She was as lifeless as dressing a 100 lb version of a Barbie, she was breathing but past that, there were no signs she was still Cora.
She lasted a few weeks after she returned, but I never heard her voice again, her eyes never danced again and I couldn’t help but think her soul was already dancing in heaven, her body a mere formality, like a form someone forgot to sign.
Best,
A
Puddle Jumping with Pandora's Box 