Shoshy: "We walk bent, but we talk straight!"
Yankele and Shoshy
Dad having his first meal at a table in nearly 3 weeks
This one shows dad on his last day of luxury in Cardiac. Single patient room, all mod cons, constant care. Joy!
Tuesday's update. Dad has walked, ever so slowly and with the aid of a walker to the dining area of his ward, thus had his first proper lunch, sat at a table. I caught a snap of him, mum and Lea sitting at a disturbingly similar pose (well, lea will be disturbed, I assure you). Yankele was there, with his dad, and he was relieved from duty by Shoshy, not before I snapped both of them. Shoshy, bossy, boisterous and booming was ready as ever to launch into a lengthy tale of one crisis or other in the history of her family. At some point she turns to her father (who is visibly delighted by her presence, and cheered up by her stories) and says: "Oh, by the way dad, I have some good news for you. Just wait till you hear this. You'll be quite pleased". He is thrilled by this teasing, but Shoshy hasn't got all day, and she declares, in Yiddish (it does sound funnier that way): "Die Kurvah ist toyt" (the whore is dead). That from a religious woman... I ask her if she said what I think I've heard, and she confirms my gravest fears with a chuckle. Some old bird she had some reason to loathe, clearly on morality issues. "I know it's against our religion to rejoice at the fall of our enemy, but I don't care. That bitch deserved to die, and she had it coming. May she rot in hell. It's how we were brought up. Say what you mean, and the rest of the world can go jump. We walk bent, talk straight".
We are told that there is not much more they can do for my dad in hospital. He may be discharged tomorrow. At the sheltered housing they have a convalescence clinic, and he may need to stay there for a few days, but he will ultimately be sent back home, to the flat on the 2nd floor. He will need help - mine is after all temporary, and he will need someone younger and stronger (and let's face it, more professional) and all my mother can think of is how awkward it would be for... her, especially if the carer is a live-in man. I try to reason with her that it would also take a load off her in more than one sense. She cannot support his weight in the shower for example, and should he (or she) slip or trip, they could both go down without being able to summon help. I use the Jewish method of guilt. "I assume you do want what's best for your husband, not just yourself" I torment the poor thing. She is stung into a defensive state. Later on I hear her saying to someone on the phone; "well, of course I want what's best for my husband. As for myself, I don't really care". Can it be that my words actually penetrated her mind? Time will tell. The plan for tomorrow is to drop mum off in hospital, I will go on to a dentist appointment and return afterwards to take her for lunch. We assume dad will be discharged around 3 pm. Nir has brought for him a state of the art walkwe, on 3 wheels, brakes, all shiny chromework. Dad has tried it out now that he can walk a bit, and it's vastly superior to the horrible one the lent him in hospital.
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