I really wanted to be at the protest about the government’s attempt to get their hands on trans youth medical records but today is one of my last days is to get things done before the surgery so I had to stay in Brooklyn and deal with a slew of tedious tasks.

 I headed out to run errands and when I got to the Arabic section of Bay Ridge, I started noticing large groups of police on every corner at each intersection.  Then as I got closer, I saw more and more Palestinian flags, and then a group of Haredi men standing in a circle. It was 75° today and I was hot in my long pants, but these guys were wearing their fur shtriemels and overcoats. They are the Neturei Karta, a group that believes the creation of a Jewish state violates divine decree and always comes out for pro Palestinian protests. 

People were gathering with their friends in groups on the side streets,  getting ready to come to the main event on 5th Ave. and it dawned on me that today is the observation of the anniversary of the Nakba, which was yesterday, May 15th.  The Nakba  was the 1948 displacement and ethnic cleaning of Palestinians during and after the Arab-Israeli War, but much like the evolution of the use of the word trauma- which once referred to a single event but now encompasses ongoing events and situation- Nakba also now refers to the occupation and persecution of Palestinian. 

I had to stay on task, so I couldn't linger there.  When I got back home, only a mile away, I found my neighbors obliviously enjoying the beautiful weather.  On one side, Mary O'Rourke - in her eighties and deaf - was visiting with an elderly man, their teacups resting on a small folding table on her walkway.  On the other side, my bisexual neighbor - whose name I can't remember - was hosting a group of women ranging from their 80s down into their pre-teens, one of whom was using the garden hose to create a sprinkler for the soon-to-be big brother. She is at the stage of pregnancy where anything dropped on the floor is gone forever, so maybe this was a baby shower crew.

I've been trying not to think too much about the surgery, but everything from the excessively peppy video of discharge instructions Mt Sinai sent me, full of things like blood clots and excessive bleeding, to the Times crossword which for the first time I have seen, included the word "spine" is making sure I can't forget it for long.

Since I can't forget it, I figured I might as well face it and pulled up the forms to update my advance directives.  I clicked the box "Choice Not to Prolong Life," and went down the list - no CPR (which rarely has the excellent outcomes you see in the movies), no mechanical respiration, no artificial feeding or hydration.  Yes, if there's any of me that will be of use to anyone, please donate it.

That done, I give Connor some extra snuggles, wishing he could bank them for use while I am gone.

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