clinging to the curtains

"Mr. Yamashita, 87, who survived the recent tsunami by clinging to a curtain after waters flooded the hospital where he was bedridden, said Japan had neglected to teach its old tsunami lore in schools." - New York Times, April 20, 2011

 this will be a short post. i am thinking today about my little sister, who suffers from a disease that is largely self-inflicted. she is young, with brains and beauty and a wicked sense of humor. but she forces herself to waste away. her job requires that she interact daily with elderly alzheimer's patients who, even as they fizzle out, sometimes mutter words of wisdom about living each and every day. my sister meanwhile has a tenuous grasp on life, her hold on this world as thin as her bones. i wish she could learn from her patients, or learn from mr. yamashita, an elderly bedridden man who survived the tsunami by hanging onto a curtain.

"auntie b" yesterday made me laugh by talking of her adventures on MUNI (the san francisco bus line). once in awhile, for whatever random reason, a bus driver will stop suddenly and announce: "ok, everybody off!". nobody wants to leave their seat by the window, or give up on their destination.

and then there is my sister. i often let oliver throw pennies into fountains, and for every penny i wish for my  sister to regain her appetite for life -- and with the urgency of an old man hanging above mad ocean water -- to demand that the bus drive on.