SUDDEN GUESTS

Mary's kid

     Roberta fell down and hurt herself on Sunday. On Tuesday we, usually, go to Mary's house to play mahjong. This week I had doubts, whether Roberta would be able to endure more than three hours out of her bed and next to Mary's very energetic and loud ten year old son, who is Roberta's partner in the game. Fortunately, she told me herself: "I don't think, I can stand that much excitement!"

     Serina also begged off from going there, so I went alone. The past week was very stressful, and I looked forward to de-compressing with my friends (more like acquaintances, since we only see each other on that one day a week).

     We just sat down at a mahjong table, when Sonny called. "I have a surprise for you" - he said - "Roberta's grandson came to visit her with his wife!"

     Roberta lives with us for three years. She has a daughter and two grandchildren in our area, who didn't make any attempts to not only see her, but even just to communicate with her. And now this guy chose the moment to come, when she is injured and my house is a mess!

     No, I didn't want to drive back home in a panic, torturing myself with the thoughts of what the visitors might think of us! I stayed at Mary's instead, torturing myself there!

     At home I put my best smile on and went to see Roberta. Her guests were gone already. She said: "I almost fainted, when Aaron came in my door!" 

Aaron is not her grandson from our area! He is the grandson, who lives with his family in Ohio! At first, I thought that, Roberta got confused again, but she was not.

     That was a different story! Although three years is too long for the children and grandchildren to ignore the woman who raised them (Roberta raised five of her grandkids, three of whom take part in this story), still, Aaron had a better reason for it, due to the distance between Ohio and California! I never expected to hear that he was the one who came over! Roberta also told me, they wanted to take us out for breakfast next morning. 

     Aaron and his wife were very nice. They are young and have a two year old boy, Ethan. He is a real charmer! At first he was shy, but eventually, seeing that his parents felt at ease, warmed up to us. He startled us by laughing with a deep voice, whenever we laughed, then began to flirt with Roberta and me, hiding coyly behind the table and then popping up again. All he says yet is: "Ah!!!" for "yes" and "Na!!!" for "no", but he seems to know exactly, what he is talking about!

     In other words, I fell in love! He has the bluest eyes I've ever seen and a disposition of someone, who knows, he is cherished by all.

     We chatted easily, while eating our breakfast. Roberta did well. She allowed me to put a kerchief on her head to hide the injury, so that she wouldn't scare the boy.  But she, I think, might've scared and saddened Aaron,because she often forgot, what she just heard and mixed up the names of her children. How sorry I am for him!

I say, Roberta looks like a mix
 between a buccaneer and Mother Teresa!

THE VALLEY OF THE WORSE

That's just an illustration:
our living room is not
that bad

     On Sunday morning I was making breakfast, when I heard a heavy thump. Thinking that Chickie overturned something on the table, I yelled at him, but in my heart I already knew, it wasn't him. I ran to the living room, where Roberta sat on the floor, holding hand to her bloodied forehead. She tripped over a wire and fell, hitting her head on a door handle.
     Emergency Room, here we come again!
     As I walked into her room, Roberta lay with her head swaddled in bandages and a cervical collar on her neck.  It took the usual 5-6 hours in the ER for her to be thoroughly examined, poked and prodded. Fortunately, though the wound looked terrible, she had no cranial damage, but still managed to get a spinal fracture. It sounds worse than it is and will heal soon.
   

 My dad fell down in his room, had an intra-cranial bleeding and died in the hospital. More and more I become aware of the possibility that, Roberta might suffer similar fate. Seeing her in a hospital bed with a big wound on her forehead put me in a state of terrible worry. I walked out to get a drink of water and bumped right into my friend, Asale! 

MaMa Asale

     She was there also, because an acquaintance of hers was in trouble. I guess, both of us experienced similar feelings of apprehension, because at once we fell into each other's arms and cried: "Oh, I'm so happy that you are here!" 
     We had a small interlude of comforting each other, and then she was gone. It was enough, though, to remind me: we are not alone in this world. 
     Roberta is at home now. The poor lady has a huge boo-boo on her head, but we both understand: it could've been much, much worse. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

    
 Life goes on. From the high notes to the low ones, from the peaks to the valleys: our business is to put one foot in front of another and do our best to be good parents, spouses, caretakers.

My Grandparents
on dad's side

     I am a Christian, but my Jewish roots assert themselves throughout every day of my life. What does it mean? 
     Being Jewish doesn't mean, one worships at a synagogue and eats only kosher foods. Being Jewish means belonging to a culture, a people, who withstood unimaginable adversities together and carried with them that same sense of oneness and belonging, no matter, what religious - or otherwise - affiliations they might have!
     On the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth of September the year ended and began. The year 5777 on the Jewish calendar! May it be for the whole world a year of joy, great accomplishments and reconciliation!
     As a small reminder of that occasion, Sonny and I lit candles on the first evening of Rosh Hashanah and made a celebration on the next one. Serina, Roberta and I lit the candles again. 

The meaning of that Holiday is showing our reliance on the Grace of God for making the next year - a year of joy and prosperity. That's why we eat apples dipped in honey for it to be sweet and eat things - like fish heads - to ensure being at the top of our chosen pursuits and occupations. 

     

We didn't manage to secure a fish head for our dinner (nor did we really try!). Instead we had the honeyed apples, cake, challah-bread (also dipped in honey)  and watermelon. We toasted the old year out and the new year in with the black currant juice and wished each other for our names to be inscribed in the Book of Life.



     And that was the good part of the week. For the shocking rest of the story read my next post.