Guitar

Wednesday 25 April dinner time

It has been a serene day for Lara. Most of the morning, quiet in itself, was taken up by the modest presence of Dr Schroyens, who had coming riding in from Ghent, about fifty kilometers West of here. Schroyens is the leading expert in homeopathy in Belgium and, through the help of Jewish friends, had consented to rearrange his busy schedule and make the trip to Brussels. The conversation he had with Lara was extraordinary compared to what any conventional doctor would have been talking about. "What makes you angry?", for example. The meeting (with me as an assistant), lasted two hours.

This evening, he called to inform that, in accordance with homeopathic medicine, he was going to prescribe one single drug only, in this case to be taken one time only: Staphysagria. The little pills were delivered around 8:45PM by special courier from Antwerp. Lara is to take the medicine in a spoonsize dose, one time only. In addition we will (at ourt own initiative) keep feeding her Glutiathone, brought by Elisabetta from New York. Friday night Schroyens will evaluate the effect of the medication on Lara and take it from there.

Today marked the end of the distribution process whereby Lara assigned all of her jewelry, shoes, clothes and bags to various friends and relatives. She had taken the preaution of first drawing up a list of people she wanted to give something to, so as not to run out of items before she got to the bottom of the list.

We had a wonderful dinner, prepared by Elisabetta and Liliana. Four people seated at the table facing Lara, who sat up in bed. But it left her absolutely exhausted. While the dinner was under way in the kitchen, Jeffrey serenaded his sister with a song he had written for her, and had borrowed Lara's guitar for acccompinament. It was very mellow and touching. I had given Lara the guitar for her birthday once, while in Stockholm, but she had never found the occasion to get serious on it again.

Various bouquets of flowers were brought in, one from Prince Constantine of Orange, with whom Lara had worked. She felt flattered.

Jeffrey will be leaving tomorrow, Thursday, but will stop by the say a final farewell to his old sister. These must be difficult moments .I push the thoughts away as much as I can and try not to figure when my own time wold come for me to say goodbye to her; to know that whatver you say or do would be the very last time. Quite apart from what you wish to say, it is the very thought that repetition or correction is not in the offing. I shudder to think.