Ups and Downs

Click on picture to enlarge for a good view. Then click on back arrow to return to blog.

Good Morning Everyone,

Here is a happy scene from last night and there is much to notice here. Bernice is very content and happy with her new up-to-date hair style. Steven, the barber came in the afternoon with all his tools and quickly collected the shorn hair in his barber sheet. Steven and his fraternal twin operate their barber shop in our little town of Glen Head. He and his family came to this country from Uzbekistan when he was 15. They were Jews living in a largely Muslim part of the Soviet Union at that time. He absolutely refused to take any payment (this is a mitzvah!) but was very grateful when Bernice gave him a copy of her father's book in which he describes in lyric detail his life in the Ukraine until he was about 17.

Pictured are half of Bernice's writing group: from left to right, Hedda, Jay, Meta, and Barbara. They came at 6:00 and brought the makings of a splendid dinner: a shrimp pasta dish, a bountiful salad with fresh ingredients from Barbara's garden, wine, breads, cheeses, side dishes, and desserts. We assembled in the dining room within earshot of Bernice who was enjoying the feast in her bedroom recliner chair. The group has been together since about 1982 and they meet monthly and read aloud their stories, essays, and poetry. An outsider, I have never been in one of their gatherings but I know that they all love the mutual support, supportive criticism, and abundant love and friendship provided in their monthly meetings. Early on the group was all young faculty in the English department and now all are active professors with two retirees including Bernice but all are deeply involved in their own writing.

Notice also, Bernice's hospital bed which allows her to separately elevate her head and feet. She is so much more comfortable here in her own bedroom and does not even want to contemplate a revisit to any hospital. The ups and downs mentioned in today's title refer to the unpredictability of things. Bernice was feeling quite good yesterday, especially through the evening when her dear friends were here. The black&blue splotches in her legs have continued to slowly fade but the night was not good. Her ankles and lower legs are more swollen and her left ankle especially was terribly painful during the night. Not being a doctor (they are also uncertain in this case) I can only speculate. There has been a downward movement of the sub-surface blood accompanied by the fading patches but all this fluid has now reached the ankles and feet with painful consequences. Hopefully, it will be absorbed and the pain relieved.

Right now, Sonia the home health aide is here for her second day and this seems to be a success. She has put in a wash and is helping to bathe Bernice. No doctor plans yet today. Dr M in his emails advises a brief wait and see.

A few blog readers, according to emails, are under the misapprehension that it is dear Bernice who continues to author this blog. If the context is not enough of a hint then my engineer's writing style compared with Bernice's fluid prose should have been evidence enough.

Bye for a time,
Merwin