I'm in California

Hi Everyone,
Wow. Lots to write, and not a lot of time.
My friend Nina, in Concord, California, was diagnosed with a brain tumor two weeks ago. I flew out here from Orlando last Tuesday to support her on her road toward surgery, and I'll return to Orlando this coming Tuesday.

Her tumor is benign-- though it's hard to think of something as "harmless" when neurosurgeons have to saw a hole through the skull to get it out. But in the end, I think she's actually VERY fortunate: she has great insurance, her children are being amazingly supportive (two are flying in for the surgery), she has tons of friends who love her calling, stopping by, bringing meals, etc. And the risk of fatality with the craniotomy/tumor removal is less than 1%. And (this is my favorite part) her surgeon is the chief of neurosurgery in a very large neurosurgery facility. (Kaiser, in Redwood City.)

So here I am. Cleaning her house to deal with my stress, trying to be helpful, and basically just hanging out. Her current boyfriend and I despise each other. I can't wait till she gets rid of him-- she deserves so much better.

Two nights ago, her boyfriend lost his temper and barked at me to shut up. And get out. And I wasn't even being argumentative! I think he is really threatened by my being here. He seems to like the thought that he's the main person who cares about her, and it seems to threaten the security of his world for her to have a supportive friend around.

Apart from his obnoxious presence and verbal abuse, I'm doing okay. I'm revisiting my glorious relationship with See's candy, we're having fun taking BART into San Francisco and having very cool shopping days, and enjoying Nina and her children, who I haven't seen in 5 years. So many things have changed here since I moved away; it's a little disorienting at times.

BTW, Chag Sameach! Nina and I went to Chabad in Walnut Creek yesterday for Shabbos, visited with her old friends, and talked about Evan from Planet Israel!
They are (of course) so proud of him there! Unfortunately, Nina didn't feel well enough today to go to the Purim festival there.

Apparently, having a brain tumor excuses you from just about anything! When we're in restaurants, Nina will casually say "Oh yeah... I have a brain tumor, and will be having surgery on Tuesday..." You should see how fast the service improves!!! We've now extended this little ploy to mentioning it to attendants, shopkeepers, deli servers, store employees, and anyone else from whom we want good service. It works like nothing I've ever seen! We're tempted to keep milking it even after her surgery, but that would just be wrong. :)

Hope you're all well. And just say no to brain tumors: they're not worth the perks.