Coffee! The sight
smell and view of
the word, delights
like no other.
Coffee! Coffee! Coffee!
Marching down the aisles
looking for pumpkin spice
tea for Marcy and Mom
summoning a pony-tailed
gal I would, no way,
grope and fondle,
she did her best but
alas no tea.
Then did my eyes
perceive in a stunning
black and yellow can
Chock full o' Nuts!
Since 1932.
Irresistible, I brings it
home and prepares to brew
a cup or three.
In goes the Melita Filter
into the shapely Chemex
glass container. Hot water
from Helene's tea kettle
whistles itself inside.
When I return, I smell
how delicious it is. As
I pour it into my favorite
cup o the day, I blink my eyes.
Can it be? Yes, the Melita
filter hath broken, damn ye!
Tiny grounds of coffee fill
my coffee cup.
I tiptoe to an upper shelf
where two strainers from
Helene await me.
Now I'm ready. Ready at last.
To see if the coffee's any good.
Ever read Ulysses by James Joyce?
YES, she said, Yes! Yes! Yes!
***
All the while I'm keeping my eye on the clock. Barry Bush and I would meet at 1 pm at the Willow Grove Mall.
Our Daytime Meeting, led by Helen Kirschner, used to meet at the mall. Too much noise so we switched to the Giant Supermarket, Upstairs Classroom.
What a proud history New Directions has had. We had more meetings. The late Kathy Sharp was part of our group but I saw how good she was so I sent her off to run her own group. Reach Out Foundation.
I met Barry when New Directions used to meet at the Northeast Regional Library. Was familiar with it since my deceased ex-husband and I once lived on Castor and Cottman.
I drove over to the mall at 12:35, hoping I'd remember how to get there.
YES! Found it and entered thru Bloomingdales. Do I smell like Chanel No. Five?
Went up to the third floor and followed a woman who worked at Hallmark Cards, which was our meeting place.
He said he'd lost too much weight. He goes to the gym to increase his muscle mass.
Five years of dialysis takes a lot out of you!
We exchanged gifts.
Persephone's pomegranates in the front. My dad loved these!
Barry is a master gardener. He works as a judge at the Philadelphia Flower Show.
Mom and I were discussing: Is there an Afterlife. I said, I don't believe there is, but you believe whatever you want.
Barry found it strange that many Jews don't believe in a hereafter.
But where do we go, he asked, after God has invested so much in us.
Views on the afterlife are as diverse as Jews themselves.
Here's my gift to Barry.
and a free Dreamcatcher that came in the mail, with a striped pen. Barry said his grandkids will like it.
The greatest gift was seeing one another!
Off we went to an Italian restaurant at the end of the third floor.
Oh no!
It was closed for good!
But Cheesecake Factory was open, so in we went.
Looked like a stage set to me.
We asked for a quiet table.
I've had diabetes for 6 years. My antirejection meds caused it.
You look at menus differently - a salad with beets in it (so delicious but filled with sugar).
Kollena fixed mine so there were no beets in it.
Learned so much about Barry. Like me, he watches the food guru Joel Furhman on PBS.
We had such a great time. You can't talk about these things to just anyone.
I asked to see his fistulas.
He also had marks from a catheter going to his chest.
He doesn't believe me when I say I would not have gone on dialysis. I did get offers for kidneys but my daughter Sarah Lynn volunteered to give me hers.
Sarah is working very hard now as her novel is due in February, her birthday month.
Barry and I also discussed difficult family members.
It's not just bipolar families, I said. In fact, Scott is here right now fixing my upstairs computer which has a piece of New Directions stationery stuck inside.
Scott's a perfectly normal guy, a very hard worker, but many in his family were/are difficult individuals.
Barry, do you know the hymn How Great Thou Art?
He was showing me photos on his i Phone and I saw again his lovely wife Cynthia.
Okay, gonna go eat something now and then go to Scott's for our nightly nap.
Scott and I are having Thanksgiving dinner together as I haven't been invited anywhere. Well, I could go to NJ, but it's too far for me. Mom will go. One of the mishpucha will drive her and Ellen.
From Z Great Barry Bush: Just read your blog, love your account of our lunch!! And the Choc Full of Nuts poem. I tried to respond but it requires some kind of log on which I couldn't figure out. Anyway, it was so great to see you, spend some time catching up and talking about stuff that only one can with an old friend who have been through a few wars together with you. How Great Thou Art Ruth!! Views on the Afterlife are indeed very diverse, among all of my friends jews and goyums alike lol
ReplyDeleteGrand daughter dug into the dream catcher package and loves it. t also had a pen in the package which she promptly used to draw pics of all of us in the house including the cats and her cat as well, then colored the pics in with colored pencils. Put them together, stapled the bunch and declared it the best book she's ever made!!
BTW, my friend Beatriz just ate at Cheesecake Factory. She NEVER sits inside b/c of the noise. Great minds think alike!!!