My loving family and friends,
I’d like to write to each of you right now but my health just doesn’t allow it. So much has happened in the last few weeks that I want to share with you, my close family and dearest friends. I had a bad fall at home in mid-February and broke both legs. Complications have set in despite surgeries and interventions and various parts of my body have deteriorated, causing considerable pain and little hope of real recovery. As a result, at age 89, I’ve decided to leave Stanford University Hospital to go through hospice and “end of life care.”
Of course I’ve been in constant dialogue with Liz and Josh, who have been with me day and night since the accident. It hasn’t been easy for any of us to have this kind of conversation but I am totally comfortable with the decision, although of course there are and have been tears involved. I want to leave the living world pain-free, with dignity, style and grace.
I have had a wonderful life, in large measure because of the love and support you have so generously given me throughout my journey.
As I think about the deaths of those I’ve loved so much — my parents, my brother, Jerry, — I want to tell you what has made it easier for me to wander through these new life passages in the hope that in sharing my joy and my feelings of the wonder of it all, I might bring you some pleasure and comfort to ease some of the pain you may now be feeling as we walk together through these next steps.
I hope I will be present in your heart and your mind. I hope you will
say my name in silence and shout my name in joy and wonder. I hope you will remember to laugh with me about silly things I might bring up.
Talk with me about the world around you and hear my ideas and thoughts.
Tell stories of my life. I will be present, as always, giving you love and being loved by all of you who have given me so much. I am grateful.
All my love, Jessie
P.s. in lieu of flowers, if you’re so inclined, the Yiddish Book Center has a special place in my heart.