Episode 3: Bernie | Bandobast and Camden

Episode3:Berni&Hosein

Like a river flows surely to the sea .

Some things are meant to be .

Berni

Transcript of episode

[MUSIC INTRO]

[HOST VOICE]

Hi! And welcome to this series – Who Cares? We are a collaboration between four students from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama – otherwise known as Bandobast Theatre Collective, and Camden Carers – a service for improving the quality of life, health and wellbeing for all carers in the borough of Camden.

With the help of Claudia, Chris, Mekhled, Berni, Fionnuala and Jacky, we have compiled a series of episodes, each using their creative content, and curated by us to hopefully celebrate the fact that there is no single story when it comes to carers – each person being a unique creative in their own right, with the only single narrative applicable being that each one of these fantastic people is brimming to the top as an inspiration of love. Each day, for the seven days of this Carers’ Week, we will release another specially made episode. Each one focusing on one person we’ve worked with for this project.

For episode 6, we have a special episode where our own Bandobast member Samira, talks about her experience as a person being cared for and speaks honestly with the persons caring for her – her parents.

In this episode, we celebrate the life and marriage of Bernie and her husband. Bernie kindly shared a series of photographs of Bandobast Theatre Collective and suggested that we make a spoken word or story that was inspired by these photographs. Thank you Bernie for sharing these photos with us. They truly moved us and we were honoured to make this piece with you.

[STORY MUSIC]

[TAYA]

What you're about to hear is that spoken-word piece that I created from Bernie's pictures that she shared with us. This will be accompanied by a piece of music that I composed that I felt fit perfectly with this story. I hope you enjoy this episode in the series Who Cares?

[MUSIC FADES]

[UPBEAT SONG]

[TAYA]

Some stories are written,

Some are kept just in our minds,

Some are shared,

Some are private,

Some cover 48 years of knowing a person.

And relearning a person.

No one else in the world,

Can me make me forget,

That you are the one that loves me.

Special is what you are to me,

Because you open my eyes,

And made me see the light.

We laughed,

Danced,

Debated our differences!

You,

A rock,

You for me,

And me for you

Love

That’s my husband, the real person masked by something out of both our control.

Now that is.

It didn’t always used to be this way.

A kind, silly, loving man.

Calm, warm and knowing.

What lies in his mind now is subjective.

But I care not to look at the setbacks and isolation this may cause,

And what other people think it might cause.

On the contrary,

He is and will always be,

Our best memory.

He,

Still,

Forever my rock,

He just can no longer give them to me.

What I mean to say,

Is that, when a male penguin finds his perfect female penguin,

He searches the whole beach for the perfect rock to present to her,

Penguins mate for life. They stay by each other’s side.

48 years.

He,

Still, forever my rock,

He can just no longer search the beaches to give them to me.

Instead,

Before he lost the ability to communicate,

He would write birthdays cards,

With assistance of course.

His perfect rock,

In the form,

Of a humorous birthday card.

Two different cultures,

Two different minds,

Dreams shared.

Did you know the lake district is the deepest lake in England?

Boating lake,

Camden,

Far less glamorous.

Maybe he would see such a lake and think about that time,

The time we went to the lake district,

Maybe he just sees water,

Maybe he just sees me.

Him,

Forever my rock,

I just see him.

We followed our dreams

we travelled to far east India,

Seems a time past,

But never a time forgotten.

My husband,

Who danced to the beat of his own drum,

Now,

Together,

We can dance to the beat of the memories.

There’s a picture I found,

A happy one,

It's one that brings me joy.

You see, travelling was our passion,

And family was the other.

This picture shows my husband

Surrounding our grandniece,

In the warmest embrace.

An embrace that, looking at the picture

You would think it was never have been broken.

Our grandniece smiling,

His grandniece,

A legacy,

To his happy

Nurturing

Nature.

The man that was. A man, but still is.

There is another picture that I have found,

One that seems to make other people sad.

I think when people learn about our story,

They are compelled to,

to take pity on us?

But I share this picture because this picture also gives me joy.

We went for a walk when he was in his wheelchair.

People look at the picture and they think:

Held back?

Forgotten?

Down and out?

No. Grounded, actually.

Nature, he loved.

I loved

We loved.

He,

Still,

My rock.

And me his.

You see,

Life is more than us. More than what happens to us.

It's about the people we meet

And the people we help to create!

These memories I have,

They will last till the end,

Till the end of me,

Till the end of us,

Till the end of time.

There is a natural circle of life,

That seems to be inevitable,

The sameness of each life,

Less inevitable.

There can never be a likeness to what has been and what is now,

There’s a rhythm to life,

The rhythm subject to each soul.

And when everybody thinks,

that everything is subjective,

One thing remains. And that is,

that our love,

that we share,

Is not subjective.

Because

He,

My rock,

And me,

His.

It is love that surrounds this story,

Unconditional love.

And the man that it involves,

Is a man that,

I will forever love.