Loose Leaf Notes

That was my dear poet/writer friend Alwyn’s title, once we could finally talk, however brief, through a screened and venetian blinded window at the care facility she is at. She dictated it to me.

She couldn’t hear me well because her hearing isn’t good, but I heard her via our phones. She said, “I’ll tell you a funny story. You can put it on Loose Leaf.”

“I’m 94, you know.”  Of course, I know that.

“I was so proud of being 94,” she continued. “You know I wrote a book about cats?” I knew that too.

“I saw a cat when I was out walking, and I bent down to pat it to show that I could at 94. And I fell!”

Alwyn partially broke her hip and had surgery. A couple of weeks after the surgery, and after being in three facilities (including the hospital), she tested positive for Covid. Luckily, she has no dramatic symptoms because her surgery recovery is enough to deal with.  She is a couple of days away from her quarantine period, but even after that, no visitors allowed in the care facility, except through the windows.

I was euphoric to see her and relieved to see how well she was doing. I’m thankful for her extended Blacksburg family who take such good care of her. The above is the picture I took of her on her apartment patio four days before she fell.

Read a review I wrote about her book Never Love a Feral Cat HERE. A birthday party, concert, book signing and informal review of her poetry book Remembering Their Names: A Gathering Time can be found HERE.