Shavout

Once again, a holiday rolls around, part of the continuous cycle of living, I will light a Yarzheit candle for Judah, Seymour, my mother, my mother in law and my father in law. Its like looking at a photo that is brown at the edges but there is a ray of light that draws you in. You search the photo for details that are lost in the denseness of the col orations. There is always a halo of longing and sadness surrounding any celebration.

Alissa Benji and I just returned from a fabulous trip to Tanzania visiting three large conservation reserves. Dr. Shriner, from Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, runs an Aids clinic in Arusha Tanzania. Judah had always wanted to go with her on her annual trips to the clinic but he was not well enough to go. Last year, at Huntington's Memorial lecture to honor Judah's memory, Dr. Shriner presented us with a beautiful Maasai basket with earth from the Serengeti plane, where she wished Judah a "Safe Journey" in Swahili. This year we went to the same spot. We also met with Ezekhiel a Maasai tribe member, who Dr. Shriner though her foundation is sending to Medical School in Dar Es Salam. Ezekhiel shares some of the attributes of dedication and compassion for his patients with Judah.

I used the camera that Judah had asked Benji to get for me while he was in the hospital. Even inanimate objects bring Judah close by. Here of photos of lions we took. In fact, Judah's spirit is so like the Lions, they
are social, love to eat, then love to spend the rest of day in sheer bliss of napping in the sunshine.