I think we have stabilized Bev's situation for the time being, at least. I mentioned that she had been categorized as "Nothing by mouth", and would need a PEG, a surgically-inserted stomach feeding tube. She was brought to Flushing Hospital last Tuesday, August 24, where the surgery was accomplished without incident. She spent one night there. At Queens Center they have since started a tube-feeding program, starting with small amounts until she could tolerate regular feedings. Most of her medicines are also done through the PEG, although she continues to have a PICC line in her arm for certain antibiotics. A PICC line is a semi-permanent intravenous attachment.

I checked with the nurse about Bev's weight loss. I had mentioned here earlier that she was getting to look gaunt, and the nurse checked to see what her weight was on returning from Flushing Hospital. Bev is now 93.5 pounds. I was assured that with this Ensure-like calorie-filled feeding, she could put 20-30 pounds back on in the near future.

I appreciate the e-mails and other messages I've been getting. However, after reading them, I feel I should clarify what I've meant by "family" being able to easily visit Queens Center.

Bev has two immediate blood relatives. Her mother Lillian is in a nursing home in the Minneapolis area. She will be 90 in November. In the same area, and in California, are also a number of cousins and aunts. Bev’s nephew Dan and family are in the Miami area, also her widowed niece-in-law and family, also her widowed sister-in-law.

Therefore, the family I've been referring to is my side of the family. My mother Sophie, my sisters Chris and Pat, my niece Chrissy and family, and my nephew Greg, his wife Rosemary, and family. Bev's present location is equidistant for me coming from the west and most of them coming from the east, with Greg and family living a few minutes away in an adjoining Queens neighborhood. I'm explaining all this to indicate we've found a good location for Bev.

I was on the phone quite a bit last Wednesday trying to get Bev out of Flushing Hospital and back to Queens Center. She'd been approved to leave, but there was still a mountain of paperwork. I even called Queens Center and told the administrator, Alex Barth, that I was trying to get Bev back since it was our 42nd anniversary. He said he'd try to expedite things. When I got there at 6 PM I found she had arrived 15 minutes earlier. I bumped into Alex at the entrance, he congratulated me on our anniversary, and said he'd moved Bev from a semi-private to a private room, which turned out to have a very nice location directly on the garden. Anniversary flowers had arrived from my cousin Gary and Diane in Nashville, and as I was unwrapping them, the nurse brought in another bouquet, saying they were from Alex, which I thought was an extremely nice gesture.

Two years ago we celebrated our 40th anniversary with my family at a Sunday brunch in the Trustees' Dining Room in the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue.

Last year we celebrated our 41st anniversary, by chance on the one night we were in London, in the dining room of the Savoy, next to the table Churchill used to use.

This year we celebrated our 42nd anniversary bedside at the Queens Center. The private room and the two vases of flowers made it more special. It was of course out of the question to have something to eat or drink. What I did do was bring some of Bev's favorite perfume for her to wear, and her diamond engagement ring and the amethyst pendant we had just bought in June at H Stern on the QM2. Of course, those went back home with me when I left.

Yesterday, Sunday, August 29, Chris took two pictures in the garden at the Queens Center. They're similar, although one shows more of the greenery of the garden. In both you can see the PICC line on Bev's arm. Bev is sitting in a lounge-chair type of wheelchair that QC provides for her.