THE MUSIC BOX
May 29, 2022
Josef Elyoussoufi, piano; David Elyoussoufi, cello
Melinda Coffey Armstead, organ; Jubal Joslyn, Cantor
Prelude: Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland . . . J. S. Bach
arr. for solo piano by Ferruccio Busoni
Sonata for Cello and Piano – III. Andante . . . Sergei Rachmaninoff
Romanze in E Major for Cello and Piano . . . Richard Wagner
Offertory: Fairy Tale for solo piano, Op. 20, No.1. . . Nikolai Medtner
Postlude: “Aeolian Harp” Etude Op. 25 No. 1 . . . Frédéric Chopin
My wife Melinda grew tired of her right hip and had it replaced on March 30. She, unfamiliar with the safe harbor where you cross your fingers behind your back, said I could write a RESPECTFUL Music Box on her return.
The procedure was Wednesday afternoon, and she came home Thursday morning. Our bedroom is upstairs, so we had arranged bedding on the sofa so she wouldn’t have to climb stairs. She climbed the stairs anyway, as if it were forbidden.
The doctor said not to overdo it, which struck her ears with the opposite meaning, better suited to her temperament, which if you haven’t already derived it perhaps you’re not married. So we went for walks together starting Friday. It was slow and painful, but the place where I thought we should turn back home and where we actually turned back were different. Starting Saturday, we fell into a rhythm: having gone too far Friday, she stayed home to rest in pain Saturday. Sunday she felt good, so we walked too far. Monday she stayed home in pain. Tuesday too far. There was a pattern.
It’s hard to argue with the success of this behavior, as her hip improved rapidly. However she did not well tolerate the pain medicine, which caused an itchy red rash. To compensate, her GP prescribed medicine which ramped up her energy as a side-effect. One memorable, sleepless night she debugged Microsoft Windows, wrote an opera, and moved the house 8 inches to the left.
Our charming, bipolar kitten Rusty detected something abnormal, and went out of his way to jump up and fall asleep on her while she lay on the sofa, which was satisfactory all around.
You think it’s nice to have her back? Ask Rusty. Ask me.
RLA
