FRIENDS, BRIDGES, AND FRENCH FRIES

Friends are a joy and even more than that. They bring together my two universes. One is the all-consuming universe of Nadine's illness, wellness, treatment, the hospital, our roles. The other is the world "outside" which I enter from time to time -- sun-laden, rain-drenched, green-leafed, with healthy children playing, stores carrying both necessities and frivolities, traffic, and rooms without sanitizing wipes at every doorway.

As friends, old and new, drift in from one universe to another, their presence tangibly and lovingly reminds me that the two universes indeed are ONE.
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BRIDGES

Nadine, clad in a blazing red-and-yellow tie-dyed tank top and baggy shorts, experimented with a scarf to cover her newly sun-sensitized self. A young Muslim mother of twins, her head and neck artfully covered with a beautiful scarf, approached Nadine and offered to teach her. She showed Nadine how to wrap the scarf to cover her head and how to use pins to secure it without tearing the fabric, and also talked about how her friends handle scarves. Merriment and respect was evident among the two as the common bond shone through.

Later, after Nadine got a henna painting on her head, the same woman taught us how to make a henna tattoo last longer. She explained that she is Indian and was "henna-ed" for her own wedding.

We also have had conversations about parenting in and out of the hospital.
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Yesterday I met Barbara, another mother, near the nurses' station. Her son, 10 days younger than Nadine, was shot in both legs near his front porch; it appears to have been a random shooting. Barbara introduced me to her son, who was lying alert in bed with both legs bandaged. He wanted to meet Nadine, and Nadine walked over to visit. The young man, a football player, also likes Beethoven, and the two had a nice chat; I enjoyed speaking with Barbara. Both teens, so different in appearance yet with so many commonalities, hopefully will be out of the hospital soon. I mourn the violence surrounding so many of us.

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FRENCH FRIES

Nadine, while consistently craving the healthiest of healthy diets (Yay), also has sometimes wanted French fries. One evening they appeared on her plate, as glistening and golden-brown as a TV commercial. I fought with her; she held her ground, insisting she wouldn't eat too many. All right, all right, I stopped fussing at her (but fumed inside). She ate her fill (not a huge amount), and offered me the left-over fries. I grimaced, then took one with the intention of exclaiming how awful they were.

They were delicious! Honesty prevailing, I admitted to her that I liked 'em. So now we both sometimes share a few fries -- fun.