I was back again at Cedar Sinai - this time for a broken vertebrae I've been walking around with since I tried putting both feet into one pajama leg. I tried suing the pajama company for not including a "how to" set of instructions. The only one who accepted my case pro bono was an attorney who lived by the beach in Santa Monica. Actually, he lived on the beach, close to the sanitary facilities.

That's where he got arrested, but I digress. 

The operation was only an hour and a half. The recovery was five hours. I forgot to bring my Kindle, the kids were working, Jefferson was busy trying to sell another - yes, I said another house. So, I was alone for a couple of hours with a few lovely nurses stopping in every so often to check my vitals. They were the most delightful women who had gifts of gab. We gabbed about what else? Judaism, religion and faith.

One was a devout Catholic...that limited the strength of my appeal. The other grew up Catholic, but was "looking". I said, "look no more." After telling her of the glory of being Jewish, I promised to send her an introduction to Judaism book. She was very receptive. Another, more elderly, was a director of the nurses program at Cedars. Immediately, she walked in and started speaking Yiddish...Mama Loschen! She thoroughly enjoyed my fractured Yiddish and I, of course, enjoyed her expertise in the language I love. 

All in all, I had a terrific time there. The five hours, filled with a lot of laughs and good cheer, passed quickly. About the third hour, Jeff returned. My harem of women was complete.  And then, Lee Bernstein, one of our members who volunteers at the eighth floor information desk, walked in to see how I was doing. At this time, I was doing great! Sadly, it was time to go home. A wheelchair appeard with Jason, a young man, calling out my name. I raised my hand and he gingerly helped me into the chair, and Jeff at my side, may she never leave, the three of us went to the elevator and down to the first floor. Jason gingerly helped me into the front seat of Jeff's car and she drove us home.  I had this big smile of appreciation and gratitude for the time spent...and, thanks to Doctor Marcel Menachem Maya, I felt terrific.

I'd be remiss if I omitted my very special angel at Cedars, Dr. Richard Van Allen from The Bronx whom I first met when he surgically put stents in my leg to ward off a blood clot. He is a shining example of what a doctor should be and is most definitely a credit to the Hospital and our people. Come meet him in person at High Holiday services - if he's not on call.

When we returned home, Jeff guided me to my chair in the TV room and watched Harvey's continued onslaught of Houston. Nothing was spared. Thousands of homes gone. Houses, Freeways, Streets, Gardens now a wall of frightening gushes of water destroying everything in its wake. Memories, small treasures, precious photographs and keepsakes gone forever. A framily of six generations - grandparents, children and small grandchildren, drowned in their SUV. Water was meant for the survival of life, not to be the cause of death.  

My hospital stay and the joys shared now a blur. I was brought back to the ongoing reality and tragedy of life. What had God wrought - again?