Last Night

I wasn't able to eat dinner with Penny and Helen in the
dining room because I had to unhook the oxygen in order
to get into the dining room and when I got to my seat I was
too short of breath to move, let alone to eat dinner, so back in my
room with the tank I awaited my tray, bearing when it came a
discouraging sight (that s why I prefer eating with friends - at least
the company s good). Okay a mound of mashed potatoes with
gravy, that would be edible, in fact I like mashed potatoes with
gravy in spite of meeting it twice a day and often cold. Green beans,
cold
too and
tasteless. A mound of chopped chicken, somewhat salty, and a spoonful
of cranberry jelly. A cold bun with margarine and some multi-colored
jello for dessert. I looked at it all for a while and then called my
daughter. When you come, I said, please bring soup - there is nothing
for me to eat here. The matzoh-ball soup when it arrived was a mitzvah
that thrilled my bones and I was well fed on the evening of the first
day of my predicted 21 days of recovery from this last bout of
pneumonia. And it was the first
day of
fall. Winter
is coming. Matzoh-ball soup is good magic for
turning the seasons.