I caught the tail end of an early evening magazine show on the television. It was the now classic format of a male and female presenter relaxing on a sofa as if a couple at home. They had clearly been chosen for their fun, just sub-sexual chemistry – some kind of cipher for the family unit. In the segment I saw they were interviewing another couple on their sofa. This was achieved by satellite technology, I assume.
The wife in this couple had terminal cancer and since her diagnosis had spent her time running marathons, doing triathlons and recently she had cycled across the USA. This was all to raise money for cancer charities and her husband and children would accompany her in a supporting role. They had just returned from the cycle ride and were all exhausted. She had become unwell during the trip and the implication was that this related to her disease.
The presenters asked her questions about how the ride went, if these endeavours were her way of ‘raging against the dying of the light’, and if she had future plans. To the last she announced she had now finished and was going to rest at home and be with her family. All through these questions the husband looked worn and hurt. It occurred to me that his wife was constantly advertising her imminent death to him through these activities. She was not simply making the most of what life she had, as she herself claimed, but she was clearly marking its brevity and limited nature. Her final statement about stopping and resting must have made this worse.
As she had said, she was finished.
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