New episode of Dr. Jedidiah's Diary: #68. Adrian, the Son of the Sea of Adria

Dr. Jedidiah’s Diary

Dr. Jedidiah is a psychiatrist who loves traveling, meeting new people, and exploring different cultures. As a single father who lost his wife to drug overdose 10 years ago, he has not been his old perky self for the last decade. During those hard years, he has met hundreds of, thousands of people from various walks of life around all over the world. Meeting new people and listening to their stories outside his office have given him different feelings from the ones through the formal encounter groups or being truly honest with himself. Here is Dr. Jedidiah’s monologue that has left him with some food for thoughts in life…. or a fodder to justify his own mistakes in the past.

 

Episode #68. The Son of the Sea of Adria

 

I used to wake up to the irresistible aroma of my favorite hazelnut coffee being freshly brewed along with the pleasant sounds of chopping, blending, stirring, and shaking from our kitchen as Demi was fixing me a nice and warm breakfast. Back in those days, little had I realized how blessed I was. For the past ten years without my beloved woman, I have been gradually emptied out in my heart with the time we had shared together vanishing bit by bit each day.

 

 

Apart from the fact that it was a winter solstice, last night seemed to me the longest sleepless night. I went down to the basement where I’d kept boxes of precious books, photo albums, and letters between Demi and me, and the diary of my close friend Adrian’s that he wanted me to keep years ago when he finished our therapy sessions in my clinic. I gave up the night’s sleep and brought his diary up to my bed to reminisce how my buddy was reeling from the sorrowful goodbye to his ailing father.

 

 

Adrian, as his name says it, loved to swim in the open waters. As might be expected of an ace player in the varsity team, he had never skipped the after-school training for four years, which made it possible for him to lead our high school swim team to the victorious regional level of competitions. Behind his strong commitment to swimming was his father who was a rock in Adrian’s life. Mr. Doukas, Adrian’s father, had raised his only son as a devoted single dad since he lost his wife to a tragic three-car pileup in their son’s childhood. Although he had been the busiest coffee shop owner in town, Mr. Doukas had always been there for Adrian on his birthdays, cub scout’s Pinewood Derby race days, the nights of Halloween trick-or-treating, Christmas parties, school events like talent contests, Spelling Bees, and Science Project competitions, and so on. Most of all, his passion for swimming had kindled a flame in his son’s mind like phlegethon and made him determined to be the top tier swimmer. One of the vivid memories in my high school days was the huge painting of the Sea of Adria in the center of the wall at Mr. Doukas’ coffee shop.

 

 

When Adrian came to see me after years and years of alienation since we graduated from high school, he looked completely consumed and depleted. He said his father had been suffering from dementia for four painful years. He said “I should have come earlier….I mean, I should have come to see you for your help when my father was in better state of health than now.” We started our therapy meetings right away. No charges, no fixed scheduling, and no concerns about getting too personal with each other. I knew that my friend needed help, and I was more than glad to be of any help in his hardest days. I was happy to know that Adrian thought of coming to see me, instead of drowning himself in drink, in the most difficult time of his life.

 

 

 

I found every single page in Adrian’s diary stained with tear drops and heart-breaking moments.

 

 

August 8, 2016

“Each time I see my dad’s long, bony legs during his bath time, I have to bite my lips to hold back tears, pressing down this sad emotions starting to brew again deep inside of me. I try hard to zone out and think of my own daddy’s weak legs in the bathtub as some funny saltigrade that’s getting ready to jump out. Yes, dad, jump out of the tub with your mile long legs!.............. “

 

 

December 24, 2016

“When dad was able to finish his morsel of grits and half cup of orange juice, a skerrick of hope was blossoming in my heart. But I know he’s not gonna be like this tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Doc says now and then he gets delirious, which will be more frequent as he increases the dosage of pain killing medicines. Just speechless, but his hands in mine still feel warm enough for me to know that I’m not alone.”

 

 

February 7, 2017

“Dad left me this morning. I was dozing off by his side, and woke up to the imaginary sound of ‘flump’ all at once. His hands and feet were icy cold, and his blank eyes were still open. Doctor’s voice of declaring my dad’s passing was echoing away in a distance like a blurred vision in tears. I wonder what that ‘flump’ in my ear was at the moment of my dad’s passing. It could be my dad slamming the door to this world and happily placing himself into a nice armchair up there in Heaven. Otherwise, he must have tossed an inflatable pool chair for me out into the oceans in our memories so I could chill and relax before swimming again.”  

 

 

 

 

Expressions

 

1.   Adrian: The name Adrian is Latin and means "son of Adria." It is a form of the name Adrianus (or Hadrianus), a Roman family name meaning "from Hadria." Hadria was a town in northern Italy near the Adriatic Sea.

 

2.   a rock: That person is someone you can always rely on to help and support you. (E.g., The Bible refers to God as a rock.)

 

3.   a pile-up: a massive collision of several or many moving vehicles. 

 

4.   phlegethon: a stream of fire or fiery light

 

5.   consumed: used up

 

6.   depleted: much less/ smaller than before

 

7.   to drown oneself in drink: tr to destroy or get rid of as if by submerging he drowned his sorrows in drink

 

8.   saltigrade: having the feet or legs adapted to leaping —usually used of spiders (such as members of the family Salticidae) saltigrade

 

9.   a skerrick of something: a very small amount of something