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| The Texter: Jean at the Zen Hospice Christmas dinner, performing a characteristic activity |
We have been enjoying the
holidays, thank you everybody has taken time out of their busy lives to visit,
send cards, etc. But all that fun has
taken its toll, at least on our hospice journal. All we can do here is briefly recount some
what of made the past week memorable. If
you know of something significant that we've left out, please tell us and we'll
make amends. For an in-depth look at the
hospice experience, more incisive piece, please see Jean's "A Tale of Two
Woodwinds," posted Saturday December 29.
Sunday, December 23
Oded Angel visited, a
colleague of Matt's and a friend of the family for many years. Oded came bearing gifts, a Glen Gould's Bach
Cd, and a copy of Calvin Trillin's Dogfight,
the 2012 Presidential Campaign in Verse.
We hope to Trillin's epic will be discussed in a future post; this blog
does not take itself too seriously and will not eschew light verse!
Monday, December 24
In the afternoon we took
our 2nd trip to the Samovar, where Jean edited a Will prepared by our attorney. Would you be astonished to learn that Jean
found a handful of typos that both the attorney and I had missed? And by the way, if you have not prepared your
own Will yet, consider doing so without being prompted by serious illness
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| Jean with canna lilies |
The photo was taken the
small park next to the hospice, on the way back from the Samavor. We spent a half-hour there, appreciating the
chill of winter on our faces, admiring the Canna lilies and a gingko tree with
rich yellow foliage,
Christmas Eve
In the evening, Jean had
her longest Skypes yet, a total of about two hours with her friends Amy Garber
in Michigan and Yao Louis in South Dakota.
We gave Amy a video tour of Jean's hospice room, and if anybody else is
interested, just ask and it shall be arranged. Yao was excited at the prospect
of spending holiday time with her son Joe, back home from college on semester
break.
Christmas Day
On Christmas Day the
Hospice had a huge Mexican-themed banquet, including tamales, turkey with mole
sauce, and sweet Mexican-style coffee with cinnamon and cardamom. We held hands around the serving table before
we dined. Daniel, one of the senior
hospice volunteers, said words of gratitude about being able to share this
moment together. Words especially
meaningful in our circumstances.
Nick Galloro was able to
join us at the banquet, before leaving for an evening on the town. He told us about a movie he liked, Silver
Linings Playbook, which takes a humorous look at the world of the bi-polar.
Tara McCulloch and her
daughter Pearl came by to visit before the banquet. As she often does, Pearl
left us a gift of some her art work. And
like Oded, Tara brought a gift of poetry, Mary Oliver's House of Light. Some
classify Oliver as a nature poet, but her book casts light on the human world
too. Here are a few lines from
Indonesia, taking in a tea planation:
...And the pickers balanced on the hot hillsides
like gray and blue blossoms,
wrapped in their heavy layers of clothes
against the whips of the branches
in that world of leaves no poor man,
with a brown face and an empty sack,
has ever picked his way out of...
Wednesday, December 26
Karen Creech, and Andy
Brodie and Patricia Seery came by for a repeat visit in the afternoon. Andy teaches school in West Contra Costa, and
his wife Patricia is also a teacher. After Andy and Patricia left,
Jean talked to Karen about playing music, see Jean's "A Tale of Two
Woodwinds" for more.
Friday, December 28
Karen Creech came by to
visit again, and she, Vivien, and Jean had a great time talking late into the
night. It was one of the longest holiday
social events for Jean, and one where she participated fully.
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| Viven Arnold with a preliminary version of her caterpillar fungus print |
Vivien Arnold is a friend
and colleague of Jean's at URS, and this was her 2nd hospice visit. She brought
many gifts. Vivien is taking a print
making class at San Francisco City College, and created a graphic showing what
goes by the scientific name of Ophiocordyceps sinensis, yartsa gunby in
Tibetan, and Dōng chóng xià cǎo in
Chinese ("winter worm, summer grass"). This is the caterpillar fungus that Jean is
taking as part of her Tibetan Medicine treatment, and which could be
responsible for how well she has been doing at the hospice.
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| The finished version |
Vivien also brought
snacks, a wonderful Christmas card made from a montage of photos of her
brightly colored oil paintings, and a copy of the latest issue of the New
Yorker. That mag had a review by Bill
Wyman of Randy Sullivan's The Strange
Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson.
Both Jean and Vivien are fans, and Vivien's sister Gina has presented MJ
papers at academic conferences. Wyman
presents the King of Pop as the last and greatest crossover act, going where
Little Richard could not, and N.W.A. and Snopp Dogg would not. He also presents
a glum picture of the last days, MJ's face hollowed out by plastic surgery,
claimed for death by the prescription drugs he used to find his way to sleep,
evading memories of his "silly, toxic, grasping family."
