Today I had a very long chat on the phone with Carol Joy, and then I went to the Mission Creek Café to have lunch and play a game of chess with a friend. We were quite evenly matched, making a similar number of boneheaded mistakes. (I won, but just barely.)
My chess buddy gave me a ride over to the hospice facility afterwards, where I met E. for the first time. She is 88 and entirely alert and communicative. She can hear and see well, and gave perfectly lucid accounts of much that has happened to her, including the tremendous losses of just the past couple of weeks. I liked her very much right away.
She wants with all her heart to see Placido Domingo at the San Francisco Opera on November 6. She said that she normally just buys tickets for the particular performances she’s interested in, but this season, you were required to buy a season ticket or nothing (she thinks that was to capitalize on the appearance of the big star), so she bought the season ticket, but has been to only two performances so far.
She was on her way to the opera when she ended up in the hospital instead, and then in hospice.
Two friends of hers have taken her dog to live with them and their dog. E. said she has a group of friends praying for her, a group praying that the two dogs will learn to get along well, and a final group praying that she makes it to the show on November 6. I asked her what she wanted me to pray for, and she said I could take my pick.
I said, “I kind of like the idea of you getting to see Domingo, so I think I’ll work on that,” and she said, “Good—that’s the one I care about the most.”
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