My father has been battling cancer for the last five years. It was five years ago that he had a cancerous bladder removed. Ever since he’s been feeling fine, and getting used to using an urostomy system in place of a bladder. Last year, however, he started having kidney troubles, and was scheduled for surgery to clear the blockage over Thanksgiving. When they opened him up, they found the cancer had returned, and was spreading to his lymph nodes. Not good. His health continues to decline, he’s tired all the time, and is going to bi-weekly chemo treatments. It’s been difficult seeing his health decline so quickly. Last year at this time he was celebrating his 80th birthday with friends and family. This year it’s an accomplishment just to leave the house.
Which brings me to today when, with the help of my brother who’s visiting, he finally got to see our house. Even though we’ve been here since September, this was Dad’s first visit. He was tired and weak, and spent a majority of the time sleeping. He finally woke up for the last few hours, and joined us in the family room to watch a special on Magic Johnson and Larry Bird that I taped for him on HBO. He also brought us a Jewish housewarming gift of salt and bread, along with an apple pie. I had to look up the significance, and here’s what I discovered:
- A traditional Jewish housewarming basket contains “bread so that you shall never know hunger; salt, so your life shall always have flavor; sugar and so your life shall always have sweetness.” The bread is often challah, the traditional Judaic bread, and salt is often represented by a salted snack or a container of Kosher salt. Sugar can be given in the form of wine, pastries or sugar
