It was supper time when I walked in to the main room.
Philip was there, sitting, not eating, but crying;
he goes through times like that.
He just cries,
mostly he smiles when crying,
perhaps reliving some past episode,
going back in time,
perhaps decades,
in any case he was not in distress,
just smiling and crying.
He was not eating however,
his sandwich nicely cut up
so he could handle it,
lay uneaten before him.
So I sat down and tried to feed him myself,
but he just looked at me and smiled,
and yes crying.
So I used the magic word that is used all over the world,
it always works,
brings smiles to peoples eyes,
calms them down,
what is this word,
well you already now it:
Ice cream…..
So I said the word,
Philip smiled,
I got it,
he ate it,
though he still cried a bit.
We laughed while I spooned it for him,
loving each bite given,
and I said:
“I bet you could eat ice cream all night if I fed it to you?
He looked at me and shook his head up and down,
in solemn measure,
with great dignity,
as if I had spoken a word of truth,
which of course I had.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
Holy Spirit Monastery
