Renu's Week

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Report of 9 March 2011

Hello from my bright and sunny living room -

A young man is studying in the adjoining dining room, the other young man is off assisting at his college play's rehearsal. It is nice to be able to focus on the family, and I spend much of the day with an apron on, it seems like. I cooked some pasta yesterday, which is really a bit too dreadful for me to eat but which the men devour. We had some rare ice cream today (not homemade); we tend to not stock the treat or many sweets, fruit on the other hand is consumed in vats. We do tend to firmly overeat when there are sweets about, and all are quite unabashed about it.

The Banyan is well, and one of our senior personnel has quit. The senior coordinator, Vanitha, had quit in December, and Harini quit this week. I will miss both folks: the passion they brought to their jobs, their easy manner, quick resolution of difficult situations, their prodigious intellect. It has been a privilege working with both folks and I feel happy for the patients at the Banyan, that they got the benefit of this thunderous expertise.

I continue to field issues on the phone and that is going okay so far. As I have not taken call or wielded a pager for a while, I don't wake up easily, thus I tell the men to answer the phone and wake me up if it's the Banyan. Also to stay until they see that I am lucid: the spouting of nonsense is often de rigeur when I wake up.

Our neighbor brought her maid over, as the lady had some health issues. Ms. D has been abandoned by her husband, and had a plethora of concerns, including stomach ache, headache and weight gain. I took a fairly detailed history, and asked if her husband beat her; even if the man has abandoned her, it is quite commonplace here to see him return for cash, or to beat his spouse for a variety of reasons. Ms. D denied the beatings, but after she left, she told her employer that she had indeed been pounded on the head by her husband many years ago. I sent Ms. D to our local Public Health Center to get her thyroid investigated for her weight gain, and I await the results. Ms. D was sweetly appreciative of my care, and that is the loveliest part of working here: just by using what I call "Wal-mart greeter skills" ("Hi, how are you? Tell me what's bothering you today. How's your daughter? She's in college, isn't she?"), apparently the person feels cared for *and* they are appreciative. Especially in the impoverished populace, I value this interaction.

Ms. D's daughter is in college, and I like that part a lot. Our neighbor helped pay for her education, and that is such a magnanimous gesture. It is education that will lift our young people - especially our young women - out of poverty, ignorance and prejudice.

Sundays are apparently my days, with breakfast to be provided for me. That does not happen with any regularity, but this last Sunday, I was too fatigued to cook and let everybody hear about it in my usual reticent, bashful fashion (ha ha ha). So breakfast was generated, Naren hurried outside to buy a watermelon from our local vendor, Navin got the pastries and juice out, Scott rushed out to buy some eggs and scrambled them, and we ate. And we talked. That is a wonderful time for me: to watch the boys gab and gab, and laugh, and get appreciative of their wacky family. At one time, and I think I've mentioned this before, at least one boy rolled his eyes and said, "Somewhere in the world, some family is having a normal conversation." Now it's said with great affection, and the boys are morphing into adulthood without feeling the need to leave their parents well behind. For this, I am eternally grateful.

We saw "Black Swan," and it was weird. Certainly well-acted, but weird.

My aunt was in town and spent the night with us. She is good company and easygoing. She has coaxed my older aunt, the one with dementia, to move in with her, which is noble. We took my aunt to my brother's place today and I got to see my niece, Ahana; this was fabulous. We don't get to see Ahana very much, and she spoke of school and her uniform and her upcoming graduation from kindergarten. Looking at her was looking in a mirror: she favors our side quite a bit, and I returned, recharged by this interaction.

May you have fine family times of your own.

Unw -

R

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