Taking you back, Dear Reader,

to my sojourn at the Harrisburg hospital (six weeks ago in time),
where I was struggling with my
inability to talk, my lack of sleep, my exceeding mistrust of the medical staff, my coughing and my certainty that I would die in that spot!













I would lie awake at night, longing for the  loveliness of "tossing and turning"! Please understand, Reader Dear, that writing notes in the middle of the night to instruct nurses how one would wish to adjust one's body on the bed is just a fruitless endeavor!

However, Dear Reader, I am happy to report there were delightful little spots amid the misery!  There were a couple trips to the eleventh floor of the hospital where the Seven Bridges Cafe featured a wall of windows looking down on (surprise!) seven bridges!  Though the Yard Man and I had to have a nurse in attendance on these escapades (making them short visits), and I needed the Yard Man to wheel my paraphernalia while the nurse pushed my wheelchair, I relished the brief "change of place" and the view of the Susquehanna River and the outside world!



















Then, too, I enjoyed meeting hospital staff from countries around the world!  "Where did you grow up?" I would ask anyone who spoke with a slight accent.  The responses included many African countries. Jamaica. The Philippines. India.  Indonesia. Cote d'Azur.  Then I would ask (write) "How did you come about moving to the U.S.?" Especially with the night nurses, my question often sparked a ready  conversation and an interesting story or two! 

The woman who relayed this information to me was a lively night nurse from Gambia or Zambia (Zimbabwe? Zanzibar?  Alas, I really can't tell you, Reader Dear; it was possibly some other African country I haven't named)  She wore a red turban on her head and had a ready laugh. She was a favorite!  (Thirty-two children! I gasped.)

So, yes, there were tiny rays of brightness.  Upcoming is the highlight! The shiniest spot in my Harrisburg stay (well, ten shiny little spots, in actuality)!

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