and I was still sick. I told Herman that I didn’t know what was wrong but I thought I belonged in the hospital. We had plans to visit our grandson, Joseph, Wendy and Max’s son, at William and Mary College. I got permission from our family doctor to travel. I was happy to see Joseph at his new college and see the way he was living in his dormi- tory. I still felt terrible but I didn’t look sick so no one was very concerned. Joseph’s room was on the third floor of his dormitory. When I reached the second floor I told him I couldn’t go on. I rested a while and then struggled the rest of the way. I’m glad I made it. When we walked around the beautiful campus I walked far behind the rest. I could do about two blocks and then had to sit down. When we went to a movie theatre and I had to walk up the stairs I thought my heart would jump out of my chest. When we came home it was just before Thanksgiving and I was feeling better. Wendy was having Thanksgiving dinner and had nearly forty guests. I had cooked briskets and kasha and bow ties before our trip so they would be prepared for this party. I have to say they were great. I was
lucky I was there at all. The next night I got up from watching televi- sion about 11 o’clock to go to bed. When I took off my slacks I could see that my right leg was twice the size of my left leg. I asked Herman to call 911. He didn’t think it was an emergency and said he would drive me to the hospital. In hindsight, no one realized that a silent killer was inside me. On the way to the hospital we called our son, Frank, and told him where we were going. We didn’t want him to join us, just to alert him. When we got to the hospital Frank was there with Wendy and Michael. Stephen had agreed to stay home and come early the next morning to relieve the others. Our grandkids, Joseph and Jessica, were also there. They stayed most of the night. When they ran a CAT scan on me they found I had blood clots in my right leg and in one lung. I was very sick. The nurse told me I was lucky because I had won a few days in the hospital. It turned out to be five days. For five days the people at the reception desk would laugh whenever someone asked for Room 311. It was the busiest room in the hospital. We were playing musical chairs. One evening Wendy, her husband, Max, Herman and a roomful of others were there. Max said they wanted my reci- pe for brisket. They all had their laptop computers and started writing down the recipe as I recited it. When they all had the recipe safely in their computers Max said, “Okay, now you can go.” Meaning it’s okay if I die now. That got a lot of laughs. Max wasn’t just there for the brisket; he brought me three vases of flowers that I really enjoyed. I am one of those that never want people to waste their money on flowers but I truly appre- ciated them – especially from a big, macho guy like Max. I got lots of cards and pictures from the grandkids. I got a good laugh from Cassidy that said, “Nana, I feel so badly that you are sick. I am going to the movies with Tommy.” She was about eight years old. When I was discharged from the hospital Wendy came to get me. She is like a hurricane, it didn’t take us long to get out of there. Since I had returned from death’s door I decided to take advantage of being alive – and of the 15 per cent discount coupon I had for Stein Mart. Before I got sick I had seen a jacket there I liked but didn’t like its price. With the coupon I decided
Herman (88) on the Kings Chair at Frank’s house
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