Still Tired

Thank you, thank you, thank your for the kind messages and good thoughts of the past week. Dad's surgery was successful. The worse part was the 11 hours spent in the world's most uncomfortable chairs.

For those not familiar with UPMC Presby, it is a very large teaching hospital located in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. The Family Surgical Waiting Room is staffed with several patient liaisons. Their primary responsibility is to track the status of patient's surgeries and keep the family informed. They escort family members to pre-op and recovery rooms, pass messages on and keep track of family members. They are very, very good at what they do and made a difficult day a little bit easier to bear.

If I ever win the lottery I'm endowing UPMC with a furniture budget so the hospital can purchase real couches and chairs.

An interesting article from NPR on the ritual of the mikvah. From the perspective of an outsider, I always thought this was a lovely ritual that Jewish women are incredibly fortunate to have as a tradition of their faith and culture. I also like the fact that more progressive women are claiming a meaning that goes beyond the original intent.