**La importancia de saber escuchar** **The importance of knowing how to listen**
Sus visitas se hacían cada tarde más frecuentes, con la excusa de tomarnos un café, mi cuñada se sentaba en mi sala y me contaba las mismas historias. No sabía lo mal que estaba o que se iba a poner. Una enfermedad silenciosa avanzaba. Yo se la achacaba a su soledad. La esposa de mi hermano, ahora viuda y con dos hijos que se fueron del país, pasaba sus días en soledad forzada, sus libros, el internet eran su compañía.
Her visits became more frequent each afternoon. Under the pretext of having coffee, my sister-in-law would sit in my living room and tell me the same stories. I didn't know how ill she was or how much worse she was going to get. A silent illness was progressing. I attributed it to her loneliness. My brother's wife, now a widow with two children who had left the country, spent her days in forced solitude; her books and the internet were her only companions.
La fotografía es una broma de ella, no esta bajo las rejas, pero yo no me di cuenta lo complicado de su condición aunada por la soledad. Ella estaba pidiendo ayuda y yo solo podía escucharla una y otra vez. A veces yo la interrumpía y le decía esa ya me la contaste ayer, así que su mente pasaba a la siguiente historia. Ella mezclaba lecturas que había realizado a lo largo de su vida con noticias nuevas de internet. Yo le preparaba un café y me sentaba un rato a escucharla.
Como siempre tenia cosas que hacer en la casa, después de un rato me levantaba a fregar los platos y ella se paraba y me acompañaba a la cocina. Todavía en esos momentos se daba cuenta que yo venia de trabajar y que tenia trabajos pendientes como cocinar para mañana, lavar la ropa etc.
The photograph was a joke of hers; she wasn't behind bars, but I hadn't realized how complicated her situation was, compounded by her loneliness. She was asking for help, and all I could do was listen to her over and over again. Sometimes I would interrupt her and say, "You already told me that yesterday," so her mind would move on to the next story. She mixed readings from throughout her life with recent news from the internet. I would make her coffee and sit for a while to listen.
Since I always had things to do around the house, after a while I would get up to wash the dishes, and she would get up and join me in the kitchen. Even then, she realized I had just come home from work and had chores to do, like cooking for tomorrow, doing the laundry, and so on.
La ventaja es que las casas de mi hermano y de mi hermana están una al lado de la otra, una idea de mi madre para que siempre estuviéramos como hermanos en contacto y nos ayudáramos. Mi hermana murió y mi hermano también así que me quedaron los cuñados y ellos eran hermanos.
A ver si me explico bien mi hermana se caso primero y luego mi hermano se caso con una hermana del esposo de mi hermana. La familia echaba broma que si yo también me casaría con uno de la misma familia. Todos logramos vivir cerca.
The advantage is that my brother's and sister's houses are right next to each other, an idea of my mother's so that we would always be in contact as siblings and help each other out. My sister died, and my brother did too, so I was left with my in-laws, and they were siblings.
Let me explain: my sister got married first, and then my brother married a sister of my sister's husband. The family used to joke that I would also marry into the same family. We all managed to live close by.
Aunque mi cuñada le gustaba salir a realizar sus compras, cada vez se notaba que no lograba ordenar lo que necesitaba y el manejo del dinero. Mi sobrina la ayudaba con la lista y le hacia las compras para que no saliera, la calle la confundía. Sus hijos mandaban el dinero para sus compras. Nos dio temor que se perdiera. Le fuimos comentando a su hija el comportamiento que estaba teniendo, pero ella no nos creía mucho, su mamá siempre había sido una mente brillante, graduada de ingeniero industrial y asidua lectora.
Although my sister-in-law enjoyed going out to do her shopping, it became increasingly clear that she was struggling to organize her belongings and manage her money. My niece helped her with the list and did the shopping for her so she wouldn't have to go out; the streets confused her. Her children sent money for her shopping. We were afraid she was going to get lost. We told her daughter about her behavior, but she didn't really believe us. Her mother had always been a brilliant mind, a graduate in industrial engineering, and an avid reader.
Sus hijos hace pocos años atrás le compraron el pasaje y se la llevaron, allí comprobaron lo que le estábamos comentando su mente se estaba diluyendo, la dama que me contaba historias mezcladas del internet estaba perdiendo los recuerdos y creando otros muy extraños. Cuando su hijo la visito ahora en navidad creyó que era su hermano, no su hijo. Ahora se lo difícil que es tratar de hacerle entender a una persona que esta mal su recuerdo, hay que ir los llevando hasta que lo enlacen con su actualidad, si es que lo logran.
Sin duda saberlos escuchar y estar atentos a sus llamadas de auxilio se vuelve parte importante para protegerlos. Saber escuchar y ser amables en esos momentos de la vida. Ahora solo me quedan los recuerdos de esos momentos tomando café. Espero pronto viajar a España, ni idea con quien me cofundira o si se acordara de mi. Su mente continua perdiéndose.
A few years ago, her children bought her a ticket and took her with them. There, they confirmed what we had been telling them: her mind was fading. The woman who used to tell me jumbled stories from the internet was losing her memories and creating very strange ones. When her son visited her this past Christmas, she thought he was her brother, not her son. Now I know how difficult it is to try to make someone understand that their memory is distorted. You have to guide them until they connect it to their present, if they ever manage to.
Without a doubt, knowing how to listen to them and being attentive to their cries for help becomes an important part of protecting them. Knowing how to listen and being kind in those moments of life. Now all I have left are the memories of those moments drinking coffee. I hope to travel to Spain soon; I have no idea who she mistook me for or if she even remembers me. Her mind continues to slip away.
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Esta es mi participación vez en este encuentro de 
This is my participation once in this meeting of