Conversations with Esther January 10 - January 17

Picture of the week
Mickey and Esther walking back up to the front door,
without Esther using a walker!  And this was
after Esther walked all the way to the end of Hillview Dr.
and back without Esther stopping to rest!

Monday, January 10

"Looking outside its getting light earlier.  That gives me more energy.  I'm walking 20 laps in the morning now, one lap is a round trip between the piano room and my bathroom, both ways. And 20 laps in the evening too, and if you put them both together it's a mile, according to Mickey.  Now if I could only walk to the end of the hill, that would really be an accomplishment."


[Terrye just sent email, Gidon and Eta picked May 25 as their wedding date] "That's really good news!"

Wednesday, January 12

"One of my New Year's resolutions was to do something new every day.  My new thing yesterday was to walk up and down the hallway, with Mickey there with the stroller in case I'm insecure.  This is the first time I can remember doing that since my surgery."  [And the new thing today?].  "Don't know, maybe it will just pop into my head."

"This is the 3rd day of my chemo week, no bad reactions so far!  But Mickey's going for his MRI results, for the growth on his throat.  I'll let you know the results." [The growth turned out to be benign.]

Saturday, January 15

"We talked about the shooting in Arizona at the current events group, just like I expected.  The congresswoman who got shot, Gifford, is half Jewish, but nobody thought that's why she got shot.  They thought the shooter was a disturbed person, who did it by himself, for no rational reason. People in the group were very upset, they seemed to really be afraid there would be more shootings, and then chaos.  Some said that people should be put away as soon as they show any signs that they're not right in the head."

"To me, the Arizona shooter is more threatening then Oswald.  Oswald was a loner, this guy had a crowd that he was part of, that gave him support."

[What about Palin?]  "A lot of people in the group think she's stupid.  but I think she's either very smart, or has shrewd advisers.  After each of these happenings she takes more people with her.  Outrageous statements, like that thing about 'blood libel,' just attract more activists to her cause.  I'm no Palin fan, but I take her seriously, whether she runs for President or not."

"Usually after the break the group talks about something different, often it's a lighter subject.  This time they talked again about censorship, whether classics like "Merchant of Venice" and "Huckleberry Finn" should be edited to remove offensive language.  A lot of people in the group thought that they should be."

"When Mickey was going to Las Lomas they assigned Merchant of Venice in his English class, and I called the principle and asked them not to teach it.  But now, after all these years, I've changed my opinion on that topic. It's better to teach the classics as they were written, so that students will understand the context.  Otherwise, the original works will have even more influence if students come on them by themselves."

Sunday, January 16

"Yesterday in Berkeley Bowl I got tired of sitting, so I got up and pushed my wheel chair through the aisles.  Mickey was worried because it was so crowded, but I did fine.  That was my new thing for Saturday. My new things aren't big, but I try to do one every day.  And I think it was really important that I got through the entire chemo week with no bad reactions."

"Now I want to ask you something, and I want you to listen carefully because it's really important.  Just because I'm getting stronger, you're not going to stop calling me, are you?  You're not going to say, she's better now, she doesn't need me anymore,  I've had enough?" [No.]