Decorative Pillars and Fries
Bonjour!
A few days ago a decorative (and not supporting) pillar on the front of the Law Building, where I now have my research and study desk, collapsed. When the red stone pillar still stood, it served as an honorarium to the man the Law Library is named after, Nahum Gelber. Support pillar or not, a one and a half story high collection of red rock creates a mighty tumble when it falls over and through a story and a half high window of glass. The entire kafafel occurred early this week just ten minutes prior to when I would have been walking through that very hallway and door. The crazy part of the story, if you can imagine that we haven't hit that point already, is how the pillar fell over.
Montreal keeps it streets and sidewalks clean in the snow-less months with small, ATV-sized, open cars that carry a large collection box on the back and a one-foot in diameter suction tube on the side and the front. The tube moves about like an elephant's trunk, flexible and far-reaching, sucking up leaves along the ground and depositing them in the collection box at the back. As any motorized vehicle would, the elephant-trunk, leaf-sucking, ATV-sized, open-topped car has a slight vibration to it. Earlier this week, the driver of one such vehicle was motoring about in front of the Nahum Gelber Law Library and paused to elephant up some leaves. The vibration of the machine, it turned out, was enough to rattle the decorative pillar right down through the front entrance of the library itself. The vehicle did NOT attempt to suction up the pillar rocks afterwards. Remarkably, not a single person was hurt.
Those of us that arrived on the scene shortly thereafter were VERY BRIEFLY explained the situation and told to cross the entire length of the building in the opposite direction to leave through the West facing door. Now, several days later, the window has been replaced but the security of the other decorative pillar operating as honorarium to the name of Nahum Gelber has not been determined so we continue to enter through other passageways.
This past Monday, also known as Canadian Thanksgiving, was spent in Burlington, Vermont. Rachel and I were all day at the University of Vermont Children's Hospital. In August it was discovered that Rachel has, what appear to be, surprisingly large lymph nodes in her neck. Because of the apparent swelling she was immediately given a blood test and it was determined that her lymphocites and nutriphils were irregular in a similar way as they would be with the early stages of Leukemia. I was cautioned that Leukemia was unlikely (since it is rare) but that it would be essential for me to get a follow-up blood test this Fall in Montreal.
Unable to find adequate health care for Rachel here on the Ile de Montreal, I located a facility Stateside and drove there for an all day session of examination. It turned out Rachel's blood levels had returned to normal but the lymph nodes were still surprisingly large and so they began screening her for Lymphoma instead. I was again cautioned that it was unlikely she actually had Lymphoma (since it is rare) but that it would be necessary to perform chest x-rays and neck ultrasounds to make sure, and that a lymph node biopsy was being considered. The doctor gave me three possible reasons for her enlarged lymph nodes (Lymphoma being one of them), each of which demanded repetitive follow up visits with doctors and at least one round of antibiotics. The tests were performed and then at 7 PM we were sent on our way told we'd hear back from the doctor once the Pediatric Oncologist had the chance to confer with the Pediatric Surgeon.
Gratefully Rachel was unaware of my level of concern during the visits. She's curious enough that the tests offered her a storm of potential questions to ask. Our friend Brian drove with us to Burlington as well and his presence offered her the chance to focus on playing games with him.
I finally heard from the doctor late Wednesday afternoon and will confess that by the time I received the phone call I'd skipped two classes, unable to cope with the idea of sitting still at a table discussing Hobbes' State of Nature, or the use of Thought Experiments in Fiction when I wasn't sure of my daughter's health.
It turns out Rachel is completely fine. In fact, she's extremely healthy. I got to see what the inside of her chest, abdomen, and neck look like. Not to mention what the buttons of a dress I wore as a little girl, that Rachel now happily wears, look like on an x-ray. What mother has the chance to claim that? What the doctors were sure were enlarged lymph nodes turned out to be a cluster of all-normal size lymph nodes quite close together. The bumps in her neck really do *feel* abnormally sized, but the ultrasound proved even the largest is within normal range. So she has weirdly clustered lymph nodes. That's the diagnosis. As a friend of mine put it, what can we ask of our kids but that they be weird but healthy?
Rachel also turned seven yesterday. She told me when I picked her up from school that she was having the best birthday ever. Her teacher let her choose three French songs for the class to sing in celebration, and then the teacher surprised her with two more songs in English. We went last night with three of our adult friends for a dinner of Fries (they actually originate in Belgium, you know. The American that brought them back to the States made a mistake when he named them.) and Burgers. Of the five of us there, it turned out only one person didn't speak French. Guess who that one person was, not Rachel. She spoke 2/3 of the meal in French with a beautiful Quebecois accent. Turns out along with turning seven she's gotten over the idea that she doesn't know French. Turns out she knows a lot of it.
So, Rachel's still healthy and energetic and very happy. With the collection of recent events in my life, I have to admit I've rattled loose most of my decorative pillars. The structural pillars that hold me are still standing and sturdy--my family, my friendships. Will Durant said "La famille est le noyau de la civilisation." Let's add, "et l'amitie" to that. Incidentally, though his mother was French-Canadian, I'm not sure he actually wrote that in French, but it sure sounds pretty that way.
(The family is the core of civilization. --Will Durant (And friendship.))
Love to you all,
Elaine
A few days ago a decorative (and not supporting) pillar on the front of the Law Building, where I now have my research and study desk, collapsed. When the red stone pillar still stood, it served as an honorarium to the man the Law Library is named after, Nahum Gelber. Support pillar or not, a one and a half story high collection of red rock creates a mighty tumble when it falls over and through a story and a half high window of glass. The entire kafafel occurred early this week just ten minutes prior to when I would have been walking through that very hallway and door. The crazy part of the story, if you can imagine that we haven't hit that point already, is how the pillar fell over.
Montreal keeps it streets and sidewalks clean in the snow-less months with small, ATV-sized, open cars that carry a large collection box on the back and a one-foot in diameter suction tube on the side and the front. The tube moves about like an elephant's trunk, flexible and far-reaching, sucking up leaves along the ground and depositing them in the collection box at the back. As any motorized vehicle would, the elephant-trunk, leaf-sucking, ATV-sized, open-topped car has a slight vibration to it. Earlier this week, the driver of one such vehicle was motoring about in front of the Nahum Gelber Law Library and paused to elephant up some leaves. The vibration of the machine, it turned out, was enough to rattle the decorative pillar right down through the front entrance of the library itself. The vehicle did NOT attempt to suction up the pillar rocks afterwards. Remarkably, not a single person was hurt.
Those of us that arrived on the scene shortly thereafter were VERY BRIEFLY explained the situation and told to cross the entire length of the building in the opposite direction to leave through the West facing door. Now, several days later, the window has been replaced but the security of the other decorative pillar operating as honorarium to the name of Nahum Gelber has not been determined so we continue to enter through other passageways.
This past Monday, also known as Canadian Thanksgiving, was spent in Burlington, Vermont. Rachel and I were all day at the University of Vermont Children's Hospital. In August it was discovered that Rachel has, what appear to be, surprisingly large lymph nodes in her neck. Because of the apparent swelling she was immediately given a blood test and it was determined that her lymphocites and nutriphils were irregular in a similar way as they would be with the early stages of Leukemia. I was cautioned that Leukemia was unlikely (since it is rare) but that it would be essential for me to get a follow-up blood test this Fall in Montreal.
Unable to find adequate health care for Rachel here on the Ile de Montreal, I located a facility Stateside and drove there for an all day session of examination. It turned out Rachel's blood levels had returned to normal but the lymph nodes were still surprisingly large and so they began screening her for Lymphoma instead. I was again cautioned that it was unlikely she actually had Lymphoma (since it is rare) but that it would be necessary to perform chest x-rays and neck ultrasounds to make sure, and that a lymph node biopsy was being considered. The doctor gave me three possible reasons for her enlarged lymph nodes (Lymphoma being one of them), each of which demanded repetitive follow up visits with doctors and at least one round of antibiotics. The tests were performed and then at 7 PM we were sent on our way told we'd hear back from the doctor once the Pediatric Oncologist had the chance to confer with the Pediatric Surgeon.
Gratefully Rachel was unaware of my level of concern during the visits. She's curious enough that the tests offered her a storm of potential questions to ask. Our friend Brian drove with us to Burlington as well and his presence offered her the chance to focus on playing games with him.
I finally heard from the doctor late Wednesday afternoon and will confess that by the time I received the phone call I'd skipped two classes, unable to cope with the idea of sitting still at a table discussing Hobbes' State of Nature, or the use of Thought Experiments in Fiction when I wasn't sure of my daughter's health.
It turns out Rachel is completely fine. In fact, she's extremely healthy. I got to see what the inside of her chest, abdomen, and neck look like. Not to mention what the buttons of a dress I wore as a little girl, that Rachel now happily wears, look like on an x-ray. What mother has the chance to claim that? What the doctors were sure were enlarged lymph nodes turned out to be a cluster of all-normal size lymph nodes quite close together. The bumps in her neck really do *feel* abnormally sized, but the ultrasound proved even the largest is within normal range. So she has weirdly clustered lymph nodes. That's the diagnosis. As a friend of mine put it, what can we ask of our kids but that they be weird but healthy?
Rachel also turned seven yesterday. She told me when I picked her up from school that she was having the best birthday ever. Her teacher let her choose three French songs for the class to sing in celebration, and then the teacher surprised her with two more songs in English. We went last night with three of our adult friends for a dinner of Fries (they actually originate in Belgium, you know. The American that brought them back to the States made a mistake when he named them.) and Burgers. Of the five of us there, it turned out only one person didn't speak French. Guess who that one person was, not Rachel. She spoke 2/3 of the meal in French with a beautiful Quebecois accent. Turns out along with turning seven she's gotten over the idea that she doesn't know French. Turns out she knows a lot of it.
So, Rachel's still healthy and energetic and very happy. With the collection of recent events in my life, I have to admit I've rattled loose most of my decorative pillars. The structural pillars that hold me are still standing and sturdy--my family, my friendships. Will Durant said "La famille est le noyau de la civilisation." Let's add, "et l'amitie" to that. Incidentally, though his mother was French-Canadian, I'm not sure he actually wrote that in French, but it sure sounds pretty that way.
(The family is the core of civilization. --Will Durant (And friendship.))
Love to you all,
Elaine
posted by hawkbrwn at 1:25 p.m.
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