Thinking things over

Dear Friends and Family,

We had a wonderful couple of days in the City: all the events we planned actually were realized. Dinner at Chowder House, Midsummer Night's Dream ballet as guests of Paul B, at Lincoln Center, lunch the next day at the Algonquin with dear friends Barbara and Kathryn, and even an hour or so in the NYPL. But reality set in also: I can no longer handle the steps in the subway system, so we had to take cabs everywhere. It's the pneumonia and the breathlessness it causes, and also the huge spleen. Also, I can't carry my computer to the library: Merwin has to do it for me. And I walk wherever we have to walk with help from his steady arm. So I feel I have lost my independence. But I am determined to do the best I can. And Merwin is so very good.

Thinking about this loss of independence, I woke up today determined to keep whatever aspect of it I could. This a.m. I drove my car for the first time since injuring the rib. It's been better at night for the last couple of nights, and I decided to go to the JCC for the 6:30 a.m. SPIN class. I had practiced briefly on a bike last week, to see how I could manage. I can't bend from the waist, but I can sit up straight without excess pain. I helped myself by paring down what I had to carry into the gym. The good thing is that the pain in the arthritic thumb seems about gone. Win some, lose some. My friends in the class were happy to see me, the music was great (lively and energizing), and the instructor was terrific and very understanding of my need to do my own thing on the bike. Now I am back home, ready to spend a good day working at the computer. That I can still do without difficulty. I am grateful for all favors that heaven sends, and I am busily planning other outings.

Love,
Bernice