Sunday, July 25, 2010

Back again

Writing is a treat. I imagine myself hiding away with no distractions - a glass of wine, and some cheese and crackers to sustain me, and then I get to indulge in a piece of writing. For this reason I rarely allow myself to do it. I am in the last few hours of a two week vacation - the top thing on my list for this vacation was to write a blog entry, so here I am! I had some very focused thoughts for this return to blogging, but my mind is now bouncing around looking for something to land on.

I will begin with the start of my vacation. No, I'll begin with the end. My mother-in-law, Margie, just called. Margie lives in Las Vegas and she called to report that she just got home from the casino. She had a $15 credit to use on the slots so she drove to the casino and applied her credit to the penny machine. She walked away with One Thousand, Two Hundred Dollars. This woman never loses on the slots, I played beside her once and in the time it took me to throw away my fifteen dollars, she pocketed five hundred dollars. But, that is not why this is remarkable. The stunning thing in this story is that exactly two weeks ago tonight Sam, his sister from New York, and I stood around Margie's hospital bed. We had been summoned because this time she really was dying. Blockages in her arteries...barely able to move or breathe...can't-go-on-just-take-me-home-so-I-can-die-on-my-couch...We were attentive, we held her hands, we encouraged her and tolerated her complaints about her roommate, the nurses, her doctors and the food....I started my vacation dutifully at her bedside and endured the 113 degree heat outside to be there.


But tonight she drove to the casino and won $1200! Oh well, good for her! Margie is 85 years old with a mind sharper than any 20 year old I know (and I know many since I work in a college). She is stubborn and vain - she has left a path strewn with discarded men (and children, but that is another story)- she can get down on the floor and back up again faster than I can and she will die with her hair fixed and her lipstick perfect. She is amazing and enraging. We love her.

There is so much more to say but it is now 10:00 and I need to go to bed so I can make it to work on time in the morning...I hope to treat myself with more writing soon.