Cell 2 Soul: The Humane Health Care Blog

Latest Edition

by Carol J. Rhodes 

Grade school, first bicycle,
high school, first date, first kiss,
college, first car, first job,
third floor walk-up flat.
Bought latest edition of Cooking for One. 

Engagement, marriage, honeymoon,
newness of sleeping in the arms of love,
instead of a kiss at the door.
first house, dinner parties, trips.
Gave Cooking for One to a single friend.
Bought latest edition of Elegant Meals for Two. 

Children, carpools, Little League games,
empty nest, daughters-in-laws,
doctors, hospital, funeral,
strangeness of  small apartment.
Gave Elegant Meals for Two to newlyweds
across the hall.
Bought latest edition of Cooking for One.

Author Bio: Carol J. Rhodes lives in Houston, Texas with a household zoo of two poodles and four cats.  She plays bridge once a week, and always has an online Scrabble game going with her best friend.  She can be reached at: rhodes.cATatt.net

Tossed Photographs

Following the death of an elderly friend and neighbor, Cell 2 Soul author, Marla Lukofsky, reflects on being single, living alone, aging, friendship, and how to protect what matters at the end of life.

Marla's Friend

In her narrative, posted in the Online Journal of Community and Patient-Centered Dermatology, Marla examines new feelings and relevant issues following the death of her long-time friend and neighbor, Enid. Marla reflects upon the ever increasing single, aging population, living alone, and how that may affect their fate in life and in death no matter what preparations have been made.

Marla also questions the current trend to treat this special group as either disposable or invisible instead of appreciating them for the rich human resource they are.

You are invited to follow Marla through her friend’s funeral and view what was left behind. She asks, “Are we any different than that older person we pass by so quickly and dismissively? I am she, she is me. We are they. It’s only a matter of time.”

Honor Enid by reading “Tossed Photographs.”