30 years ago…I was having a dear friend over for lunch. Her name was Patricia C. She had just gone through a difficult divorce and her ex-husband was making it difficult for her to see her kids. I made a salad with fresh lump crab meat chopped green olives , parsley with a little lemon juice, and a pinch of sea salt.
Then I took some leaves from an iceberg lettuce. I put the lettuce leaves on a light yellow glass plate. Then I filled them with the crab meat. It looked like a picture from Bon Appetit.
Patricia knocked on my door and I let her in. She hugged me and melted in my arms. She sat with me and cried. I told her we were going to have a wonderful lunch. I set the table with white linen napkins, silverware and glasses of iced tea. “Patricia make yourself comfortable. I have to run upstairs for a minute.”
I had to call my mom and check in. I called Shirley and we chatted for a bit. At the end of the call I would kiss the receiver 10 times and ask her if she got them. Then she would kiss the receiver and she would ask me if I got them then we would laugh hysterically.
I rushed to go downstairs and fell down all 12 stairs. I landed on my back …my head hit the floor and my left arm was pushed all the way back. Patricia heard the noise and rushed in. She was trembling, and I was passed out.
She shook me, and said, “We are going to the hospital.” Before I knew it, I was in a hospital bed. Dr E. Came in and asked me what happened. I told him that I fell down a flight of stairs in my house. He wanted to know if I had been drinking. I told him, “Just water.”
He immediately x-rayed my shoulder. I thought maybe I had sprained something. He said, “I have some bad news to tell you. You have torn your rotator cuff. And the tears are serious. We have to do surgery right away.”
I had never been put to sleep before. The anesthesiologist came in. He told me that at night he was a ballroom dancer and proceeded to do a little dancing. He told me to count backwards from 10. I was in surgery for three hours…to be continued…
Love,
Richard
