And meanwhile, in St. James ...

When I received a call from Jenny today saying that there was finally news from Africa, I was on a walking tour of the historical sites in St. James, Long Island, conducted by my mother. Those of you who know her know that she is a retired teacher, history buff, and tour guide at both New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Three Village Historical Society on Long Island.    It was 90 degrees today, and she had hoped no visitors would come, but seven intrepid tourists and one daughter were there.  Among other things, we saw the 2nd oldest Episcopal church in the country -- the oldest made of wood -- which was a British bastion in revolutionary times, facing its rival, the Presbyterian church that was where the American Patriots worshiped, across the village green.  Battle took place on that green.  We also saw the graveyards, with gravestones from the 1700s to more modern times.   

 But the most important lessons today were from our morning visit to an elderly couple, Anatol and Helena Morell, friends of my mother's, to bring them some cake and company.  They are World War II refugees from Poland, now in their 90s.  Anatol was a chemical engineer and then became a biochemist.  When they came to the states he had no English, so he took a job as janitor at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in NY so he could be in a scientific environment.  After he learned English they made him head of the Biochem department and together with Gil Ashwell he discovered (according to google) the "Ashwell-Morell hepatic galactose receptor, one of the earliest known carbohydrate receptors."   His wife Helena was a social worker/counselor. 

Strains of Chopin were coming from the living room as we walked up to the house.  This was amazing playing not even considering that Anatol is 95.    He walks with canes and is extemely frail, but greets visitors with a kiss -- kissing your hand for extra measure if you are female.  Over cake I learn Anatol still takes weekly piano lessons  -- he began them 15 years ago, when he felt he finally had some extra time to spend on his playing.  He can no longer see the sheet music, so he must memorize everything.  He tells me that when younger he never used to bother memorizing music, but must do it now that he cannot see to read.  It is difficult because "one cannot count on tactile memory to be reliable, so you must engage as many different kinds of memory as possible."  He thinks his playing is better now than 15 years ago.  

Helena offer financial support to young musicians at Stony Brook University.  She does it by paying them to give recitals  in her living room.  She invites her neighbors to come -- the local  children  sit on the floor.  Anatol and Helena also used to rent rooms to medical students, many of whom are now on the staff at the university hospital.   As a result of all these activities they have many friends who volunteer to help them, making it possible for them to live independently in their home.   They recently added a front porch railing, and after they kept having the workman  stay for supper, he decided to throw in a white wicker loveseat.

 Meanwhile, Helena is frustrated that she does not really understand how the US banks have gotten into such trouble that the government had to bail them out, so she is currently studying economics and reading the texts aloud to Anatole. They are learning the many new terms, such as "leveraging" in the hope of being able to understand the articles in the Wall Street Journal. 

 It occurs to me that I have been letting my education slip; I will remedy this upon returning home.