Physical therapy at home is one of the things required after a fall.  The fall is different from when I was on the basketball court.  Different repercussions.  That’s it—cushions.  That’s what I needed now.

The prospect of a fall never scared me.  I still had the old sports attitude.  Things change, faster than we realize.  People change too.  Just look at the news. 

But there are some people who stick with the everlasting (old?) values, and they can be counted on.  They carry on civilization.  Theirs the new recipes, theirs the new technology (i-phones), theirs new languages and learning.  Theirs the fun.  Life is change and interesting.  Let me be with it.

Seeing my wife’s face in repose after making me tea and a soft-boiled egg to relieve my stomach troubles is the epitome of the Savior’s generosity in the trials of old age.  I didn’t do any great deeds to deserve this.  It’s just been good luck all along.

At least that’s what it seems.  We little appreciate what we have from the Jewish heritage, a Savior who offered himself as the ultimate sacrifice of them all under the Old Testament.  The result has been Western Civilization, rocky at times like in Seattle, Washington, but I’m still grateful for a 4^th of July.

We took Ilana, her parents and her friend out for dinner to celebrate her graduation from elementary school.  Mom and I were treating, and Freddy was driving, a necessity in my old age.  My granddaughter’s friend was Hispanic, and knowing of the prominence of eggs in South American dishes from my stays at La Cocina, I asked if she had ordered the egg in her dish separately.

Paula informed me that she had ordered a breakfast dish, and what was the big deal?  Having played the role of the immigrant at a previous stage of my life, I felt embarrassed for a curious delving into other customs.  I changed the subject to El Huelvo, the restaurant on Old Country Rd.

To me, what is amazing about my son, is that he outgrew me and began to take care of my old age after that became apparent.  He still listens to me, but more oft, I listen to him.  He looked at my bathroom and said, “We’re going to get you toilet risers.”  He got them on his i-phone in five minutes, they were delivered the following day and he installed them.  Fortunately, Loretta has a separate bathroom.

It’s one of the perks of an old age apartment, and we are blessed to have that.

People are reluctant to have children nowadays, forgetting they are God’s blessing in old age.  But you’d better raise them right.

Now Freddy is not an only son; he had two older brothers, both equally engaging.  But Freddy’s loss would cause a grief infinite, as of an only begotten son.

The death of the most Christ-like man I ever met came with the passing of Father Edward J. Kealey of St. Edward Confessor Church, Syosset, NY.  I remember his inviting non-Catholics to partake of the Eucharist just for one Mass, provided they believed it was the Body and Blood of Christ.  (That didn’t sit well with the bishop).

I tried that with my sister-in-law, and saved her marriage and relationship with God.  Many good fruits emanated from Father Kealey’s sermons.  Fr. Kealey was a former professor at Holy Cross College, intelligent as well as educated.  He had a Ph.D.  May I reap half the souls he did.