Chicken Broth

Thursday 3 May

As from this morning, we had the impression that, unbeknownst to us, the dosage of morphine  had been halved, from 20 mg per day to 10 mg per day. Lara was lucid as ever and interacted like we hadn't seen her do in days. She was able to articulate views about sensitive and morally charged issues with her treating physician, the head nurse and my old friend Gert-Jan, the doctor (who had stayed over night). Later she would similarly engage other passing friends in conversation, such as Helene de Merode, Caroline de Gruyter and Sylvie Girard (who, too, had stayed over night). Lara ate apple and orange, plus a full bowl of Andreina's lentils and pasta dish.

It turned out that she is still on 20 mg of morphine per day, but that perhaps a lower dosage may be contemplated as from tomorrow. Strange how the human mind works.

After so many caring women had lived in our kitchen for several days, the refrigerator had turned into a virtual biotope, where - I swear - I saw things whisk away as I opened the door. Andreina took a good hour last night to save the edibles from among the way-past-expiration substances, and threw away the dubitables, while leaving some freshly cooked meal items of her own. Where would we be without her.

We are looking forward to Sylvie's chicken broth tonight.