July is the Cruelest Month

My dear friend Paul, who has become quite the learner of matters Jewish, tells me the days of Tisha B’Av are nearly upon us. TBA is the time of the year that commemorates the destruction of the great Jewish Temple -- sort of the ancient Vatican of our people. Tradition holds it is a time of great mourning -- weddings in the orthodox community never take place during TBA -- and it seems bad and sad things happen with greater frequency. In my case, it was surely true. My father died in mid July. And now, sadly, Wifey's father Richard is going through a tough time, too. I noticed at our last visit he was in tough shape -- very cold and uncommonly quiet. Sunday night, after our visit, MJH called to say he had fallen, but with no injury. Monday he had another fall -- and the staff was going to put an alarm on him which goes off if he tries to exit his bed unassisted. Yesterday the Ds and Wifey and I and Paul and his fiancee were going to meet for an early birthday lunch for me. Not so fast! My father in law was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in rough shape -- fever of 104 degrees, shaking, etc... D2 and Wifey headed over to the Beach, and spent the day there. He was admitted to the ICU, and the thought is he has a bad urinary tract infection, as well as the flu. He was seen by no fewer than 5 specialists -- cardiology, pulmonology, urology, nephrology, critical care, and a hospitalist. The plan is to give him IV antibiotics and fluids, and hope he bounces back. I have a strong feeling he will. The man is incredibly strong -- an athlete in his younger days, as he will remind anyone who visits him. He had a cardiac bypass operation in 1989, and the surgeon told me it would give him another 10 good years. Well, the surgeon died several years ago. D2 was a great comfort to Wifey as the hours passed. We met for dinner after the long day, and Wifey couldn't stop thanking her second born. D1 will go visit after work today, and I'll drive Wifey over later. My mother in law will come, too, and as D2 told Wifey, this could be one of the worst weeks ever for you. Drs. Barry and Eric both gave us sage advice, as usual. One of the docs tried to convince Wifey that she might rethink the advance directives. She remained steadfast, armed with the great counsel of our dear friends. Intubating a 90 year old with Alzheimers is not something my family is looking to do... So I hope our TBA travails are nearing an end. It would be nice to have a July to recall for happy reasons...