Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Old Jews

I have a thing for old Jewish women. There I was yesterday, in the strange courtyard of a Jewish rehab facility for elderly people and I was sitting with an older woman in a wheelchair and she was not so happy, but we found reason to laugh. At some point she asked me if I had ever had Chemo treatment andi said notin the last few weeks, which is true. She asked me if I thought it was a worthwhile adventure for an older woman in her 80's. I said no, I did not.

There are small bronze statues in the heavily shaded area where we were sitting, she sipping root beer, me sweating and a little exhausted. She asked me why I would suggest she forego Chemo and I said for most people the tradeoff is not worth it and that is especially true withpeoplewho are really old. I told hernia the breast cancer treatment y mother went through inherent 80's was probably thestaw that killed her.

She sipped her root beer. I think we talked about my bike ride the day before, I was kind glowing from the adventure of riding hills and mountains around southern California. I wheeled her the lunch area where there was a literal gaggle of gray haired old Jewish women, all of whom were beautiful and lively, even in their various states of recovery from their various illnesses. Beautiful women remain stunning even in a time of personal tragedy, this is something I have seen before.

Much like my own mother, my friend kept offering me cookies from her lunch, but I cannot cookies, so I suffered, which seemed appropriate. Soon after she had to o to a specialist and I had to go buy baby clothes, because one of my best friends will soon bea father. As I was driving away from the Jewish rehab facility, all I could think of was how sublime older Jewish women are and how it is always such an inspiringhonorjus to sit with one in a moment of introspection.

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