![[reading a poem]](at_podium.jpg)
I now live in a very nice Senior Living Facility. I was told, I don't remember by whom, that it was a mansion built for a wealthy man's mother, and converted after her death into a Senior Living Facility. Someone else told me, again I don't remember whom, that about 200 of us live here. I have no evidence for any of that.
By choice, I am a recluse, a troglodyte. I live in my apartment as if it were my cave and I no longer needed to hunt my meals. I interact with my caregivers who see me some eight times a day. They bring me pills, which I have proved unable to regulate for myself. They bring me meals. They take away the trash I generate every day, and the plates I receive my meals on. They are very kind and considerate. We have conversationlets which often include my attempts at humor, puns mostly. They are kind enough to laugh.
You may remember that I was married to a lovely woman who could get all gussied up. Her body is still alive. Her mind is not. Back in October of 1920, her gall bladder collapsed catastrophically and damaged other organs as it failed, including her brain. Her brain has since rewired itself, and create a new person with no memories of my Linda. She has learned facts about her body's history, but they mostly mean nothing to her. Her memories are of rooms and halls in a Skilled Nursing Facility.
As I understand it, and don't trust me much on this, she is nearly bedridden now, and barely able to carry on a conversation. I call her three or four times a day and our conversations are pretty much: what time is it? When will I call her next? Goodbye.
My consolation is that she is not my Linda. My Linda died back when her gall bladder killed her brain. This is a new person in Linda's body. I admire the resilience of that body and brain which once belonged to Linda.
Meanwhile, I keep up with my emails, mostly. I read some (in Kindle mostly) and "work" in my computers. I write poems and make stories. I keep in touch with my brother, Charles, and my best friend ever, Patricia.
From time to time I update this website.
Best wishes. Va bene.