The following letter was sent to my wife by my daughter Rivkie. It is quite poignant and describes what is going on with my grandson Reuven. With my daughter’s permission, I present it here (parentheses are mine):
We got home from St. Louis this afternoon. It was such a nice Yontif for all of us. Tovi (Reuven’s mother) and I shared the cooking even though she did most of it. And there was even a meatball contribution from you [...yum...thanks!]. I brought two sides and some raw materials for mains and Tovi did the rest.
If you hadn't known what was going on with Reuven you would never have known from the mood of yontif. Everyone was happy to be with each other. The kids had a great time together and so did the adults ...the food was great and the weather was perfect (although it was) a little chilly at night. Neil (Reuven’s father) and Tovi built a beautiful Sukkah. There was enough room for everyone and even a few other guests for one of the meals.
Reuvs could not have been in better spirits. The only difference was that he had to pause at various points of the day to take meds etc.
The only shocker for me was Reuvs' hair. It's thinned out a lot. I had asked Tovi before we came if I should say anything to prepare the kids about Reuven's hair and she said "no"...that it didn't really look that much different and they probably wouldn't notice. But Micha (Rivkie’s husband) and I noticed and so did Meira (Rivkie’s 7 year old daughter, Reuven’s cousin). Meira asked "what happened to Reuven's hair? Why does it look like it changed colors...?" I explained to her that the medicine that Reuven has to take for his arm makes that happen to his hair etc. I couldn't help but be sad when I first saw him, but being with Reuven over the duration of yontif was anything but sad. Reuven was happy and singing and dancing and hanging out with everyone.
And of course Humbers (Reuven’s younger brother, Avraham) is a scrumptious as ever and we love Elisha (older brother) too.
All our love from here.
r
