Joys all around

Dear family and friends,

David Akins is the grandson of our oldest friends on Long Island, Dottie and Abie Spector, who, sadly are no longer here to feel joy from the achievements of their two grandchildren, so we have naches for their sakes and for the sake of dear Rae-Rae, their daughter. and for David himself: hooray David! Rae-Rae, Debbie (David's younger sister) and David will be with us next month. We are their Long Island connection now.

Yesterday worked out very well, in spite of the necessity to take more train trips than we wanted to make. We stopped off at 4E where Terry, the porter, put our little air conditioner in the window. The room wasn't too hot on this visit, but the air conditioner is bound to help. We had a little snack then went off to MoMA where we were meeting Rachael, Michelle and Rick. Lucky us! All of these beautiful people happened to be available. Rachael often has to work all day but had the day off.

Merwin and I had our last ride on the V train, which took us practically from door to door. Now we have to see if the M, the replacement line, will do the same. The plan was to see what we could in the museum and then have lunch at their restaurant there, The Modern. Merwin got a wheelchair for me, and I had a perfectly comfortable time. The marble floors would have been deadly for my pelvis if I had had to walk. My first visit to a museum since before March 16th, when that sidewalk broke my pelvis! I won't go into detail about what we saw, but it was all splendid.

Then the lunch itself was wonderful. We were celebrating Rachael and Michell's 25th birthday (a few days late) and Rick's new apartment. Everything was beautifully presented and delicious. Afterward, we went on to the LIRR via the E train, and then home. By that time I was too exhausted to do much but take a nap and read a little of the book that Barry had left at the door for me. Thanks, Barry! His ideas and comments began energizing me. Strange, but Hamlet always does that—thinking about the play and its multitude of possible interpretations wakes me up.

The itching remains a problem, but I think that things are going well. I feel so much better than I did a year ago that it is amazing. The stamina could be better. The itching could go away. But otherwise, life is good.

Hope that it is the same for you too!
Love,
Bernice