Mother's Day, Part I

It was a little longer between visits this week. We stopped by on Friday, May 1 on our way to New Jersey to visit our kids and see a play by good friend Mike Goldfinger's daughter-in-law Jackie. Mike describes the play as "off Broadway," but "off off-Broadway" may be more accurate. Anyway, the play was very, very good and we had a fun (if short and rainy) weekend.

On that Friday, Fay was in a particularly cranky mood. We tried to reassure her and calm her down. Since they keep unplugging her phone to hook up her nebulizer, we couldn't check on her directly until our visit on Saturday, May 8. We found her in a good mood, laughing at everything, telling all the staff and care-givers who we are and that she loves them. We brought some presents, including an extra plug so that the phone can stay plugged in.

Fay had received some Mother's Day cards. The clip above is her public "thank you." Jessica Fadem's was the most original. It was supposed to be a recording of her voice, but unfortunately the electronics were damaged in the mail and all we heard was a male voice giving instructions for recording. We had a good laugh and it was a good opportunity to remember Jess and Harold, Sarah, Michael and Justin as well as the other neices and nephews.

We have our regular cadre of other visitors on Saturday. There is the religious woman who comes with her children for the mitzvah of bikkur cholim, visiting the sick. I think I mentioned that her grandmother owned the Evergreen nursing home in St. Louis where Fay's sister Beckie lived. We chatted about St. Louis. She wondered if I knew her grandfather, Rabbi Kelner (sp?) and I asked her to check with her family about Fay's sister Ann Rose who was a kosher caterer in St. Louis for years.

There is also the elderly lady (very elderly) with the Cleopatra eye make-up. Her husband is a resident and she comes every day to volunteer. She also has an inexhaustible supply of jokes, most of which are shockingly off-color. Yesterday's topper (which I won't repeat) involves a Jewish woman, deviant sexual practices, and an Arab husband. Fay laughed like crazy, and Margie and I laughed at the bizarro situation.