Kaiser Visit

Yesterday, Danny and his wife drove me to the Kaiser facility where an efficient female doctor cleaned out my ears.

They were loaded with wax. The procedure was a “bit painful” but I expected it would be.

I gritted my teeth. Was I happy to hear the words, “Morrie, that’s it.”

Perhaps now I will be able to understand what people are saying to me.

***

My visit to Kaiser helped my hearing very little….Sure wish I could hear better, but I get along just fine.

***

Steve visited today. He usually puts a pair of amplifiers on me.

He didn’t today.

We spent a pleasant lunch hour eating corned beef pastrami, and a side order of dill pickles, from Canter’s.

I wore no hearing aids. 

Only a few times did I ask him to repeat what he said to me.

I am long reconciled to my loss of hearing. I manage well.

To the rest of my limited days, I will continue doing what I am doing.

Have a good day.

Morrie

(June 13, 2021)

Ticket to the Moon

Never in my wildest imagination would I have thought I would live long enough to see commercial space flight.

In my youth, I read the magazine “Amazing Stories.”

At that time they were fantasies. 

No longer.

No one is selling tickets to the moon yet, but soon they will be.

It will be like buying a ticket to Cucamonga, but non-refundable.

We call it progress.

My mother would say it’s a trick. 

Maybe she is right.

Maybe I should buy a ticket now before the line gets too crowded.

I might be able to walk without my walker.

Maybe there will be senior rates.

Thinking of Judy, I wonder if they will allow pets on the flight.

Like innovations in the past, I’m sure it will be worked out.

Will there be “galactic” insurance?

(June 12, 2021)

Thinking, Always Thinking

Pleasant thoughts of my past life.

Fortunate to have shared them with my wife. If I had a wish, it would be to have Betty alongside of me, but I know that cannot be.

We get but one “go around.” From our birth, we build memories.

I feel that my “candle of life” is “flickering.” Like the melted wax on the candle bottom, puddling remnants of its use ready to go out.

It has done its job. Things are as they should be.

Pictures of Betty are before me. She’s always in my thoughts, “lighting up” my memories.

“Morrie, do you have a wish,” I am often asked.

“Yes, I do,” is my reply. 

I can best express it in a song I wrote for Betty called “Betsy Doll.”

Readers, forgive me, it may be repetition.

Betsy Doll, wherever you are, on this earth or on a star, that’s where I want to be.

We met by chance, at a wedding dance, it was the start, of our romance.

Then one day, you changed my life, “my girl” became my wife….

What “mars” my existence is not having Betty beside me, but I’m not complaining.

Again, I wish to say, I am one lucky “dude.”

May you, my readers, be as lucky as I am.

Good wishes, good luck.

Morrie

(June 5, 2021)

Another One of My Days

I was shaken awake by Danny.

Danny was pointing to my large 14” wall clock.

With a little difficulty, I was able to make out the time – 7:50 am – time to get out of bed.

I shower once a week (no longer a greasy mechanic).

Dressed, washed, I headed for the breakfast table to eat one of Danny’s belly extending breakfasts.

He served both oatmeal, and bacon and an omelet.

Breakfast is my best and most enjoyable meal.

I ate it with “gusto.”

Served with small diced fried potatoes and one half of a well-toasted English muffin and marmalade to cover it.

My stomach was full. I could not eat another mouthful, I had it.

I sat immobile reading the LA Times Danny handed me.

I thought, “Morrie, you are one lucky guy.”

It’s the truth.

What would make it better is having Betty alongside me.

Betsy is in another world.

(May 20, 2021)

Time

I can’t keep track of time.

I can’t tell you what day it is.

I spend my time mostly in my desk rocking chair, thinking about what?

Many things.

Mostly I think of Betty and the 80 years we spent together.

I miss holding her hand.

She always wore rubber gloves when she did dishes (I cleared the table and cleaned up, sometimes did the cooking).

On some Saturdays, we invited our family and friends to a “Waffle” breakfast.

My secret formula was that I put handfuls of crushed walnuts in the batter.

Served with yogurt and raisins (sometimes sliced bananas) they were “the best.”

“Those were the days.”

We outlived all of our friends. 

When Betty passed away, I became a survivor. How long I will last, no one knows.

As long as I can, I will keep going.

(May 8, 2021)

Life is not fair.

Life is not fair. 

I read in the L.A. Times about Sherpa people, far remote from us (on top of the world) in the shadow of Mount Everest.

They share the same problem that we all do, yet not on the same level.

Living in a remote, cold region with limited job opportunities, it is difficult to make a living and support their families.

On top of their normal problems, the current deadly pandemic has also enveloped them.

***

It “boggles” my mind when I think about the ability of people in remote areas of the world to survive infections. The virus may be controlled and dormant for a while, always ready to strike when conditions are ripe for success.

We, the world, must always be on alert. The world has survived many epidemics.

I have faith we will survive this one.

***

This epidemic, like others before, will end (nothing is forever).

I cannot control the actions of others.

There are not many people my age who have survived the 1918 influenza epidemic.

Danny and I will do our best to survive this one.

I hope you do, too.

Good luck, Morrie.

(May 9, 2021)

Declaration

Prior to my writing, I promised to tell the truth, nothing but the unvarnished truth.

However, “Dear readers,” many of the events I’m writing about happened as much as 75 years ago.

It’s what I remember, it may not be all that happened. I may have inadvertently exaggerated. I didn’t intend to. At the age of 107, I may have forgotten (or exaggerated).

I am only human.

I forget things. (Don’t loan me money.)

Just kidding.

(May 28, 2021)

Ireland

When Betty and I thought about where to travel in Europe, we didn’t give much thought to Ireland.

I had read much about European history, but little about Ireland.

We didn’t know that Ireland had a north and south, a Protestant and Catholic contentious separation. 

We didn’t know that Ireland had a sizable Jewish population with a huge impressive synagogue.

One of the reasons people travel is to broaden their knowledge of the world, see different cultures, their way of life. Certainly it was our reason.

It was by pure chance that Betty and I (on our first trip) landed in Ireland.

No long story to tell you, and I have a feeling I’ve told it before.

All writers are fearful about being repetitive (at least I am). No writer wants to bore their readers.

I try not to.

(April 29, 2021)

Mayhem in Minnesota

We pay the police to be our guardians.

People of color like George Floyd should never have had their lives cut short by the police they depend on to protect them.

Shame, shame, shame on the police…It can and must be stopped.

Steps are now being taken to correct the many wrongs.

We are watching.

Morrie

(April 16, 2021)

Vaccine

I was lucky. 

Many people had a bad reaction when they received the Pfizer vaccine for Covid-19. 

Perhaps it is because of the immunity I had built up over the years.

On March 2, 2021, I had the first dose, and on April 6, 2021, I had the second dose.

The pandemic is still raging, claiming many victims. The death rate is being lowered daily.

I don’t wish to be complacent but I think we are winning the battle.

I hope so.

(April 23, 2021)