Please don’t
care for me. Please don’t look after me. Don’t make me safe crossing the road.
Don’t protect me from dangers. Don’t make me safe and sound. Don’t clean up
after me.
Please don’t
say, “I do everything for you. I don’t know where you would be without me.”
Please don’t
care for me. Don’t clean my messy face after eating. Don’t make me neat and
tidy. Don’t say, “What would you do without me?”
Please don’t
care for me. Don’t transport me around. Don’t help me in the garden. Don’t say,
“I never have a moment to myself. A moment when I think of nothing but you.”
Please don’t
care for me. Please don’t. Please care about me. Not for me. Care about me and
I will care about you. Care about me and my emotions and I will care about you
and your emotions. Care about my feelings and I will care about your feelings.
Care about my self-confidence and I will care about your self-confidence and we
will both flourish.
Care about
my pride and my pride will flourish. I want to do things I can be proud of. To
do things I can tell people about. To cook for people and listen to them say, “That
was nice.”
And this
town is full of ex-patients of mine whom I randomly meet. To all of them I say,
please don’t tell me what a good dentist I was. Please don’t tell me how I did
a great job treating your family. Please don’t depress me because it depresses
me to hear about things I can no longer do. Please don’t talk about the past.
Next time we
meet in the street, say hello. You can
thank me for everything I did. That’s okay. And then I will thank you and say
that you gave me more than I ever gave you. I was the winner in our relationship. And then
talk about the future. About all the great things coming in the future for both
of us. Care about my future and I will care about your future.
And talk about
the wonders of life. How great it is.
Talk about your new dentist. Tell me how
great he/she is. I will be happy if you have a successful new relationship.
That pleases me. It means we can all get on with our lives and move forward. We
can plan for the future. Or we can let the future arrive and enjoy the way it
surprises and delights us.
Please don’t
care for me. Care about me. And our futures will be wonderful.
