the ed report, january 22

  

Yesterday I visited Ed in his high end assisted living apartment. Check out the view from the roof (above) or the prices at The Watermark if you don't believe me. Barbara says we should move in there, though neither of us could afford it.

    He was lying in his overheated bedroom, and I was doing the Sunday crossword in the living room. I had two squares left to fill in.

    "What's Turkish currency?" I asked. "It's blank I blank A." 

    "Lira," Ed said, his eyes closed. Of course, he has been to Turkey, and I have not.

    "Like in Italy? How come?"

    "It was the common currency of Europe at one time," he said.

So there you go. He can't remember what day it is, but he remembers the currency of almost every country in the world.

 Ed's son Stephen came over after helping his mom and sister take care of the house in Carroll Gardens. He brought a hammer and a nail to hang a clock in Ed's bedroom as well as the living room, which Ed seldom goes in unless he has company. Stephen also got maintenance to fix the toilet, which started leaking again. And he found an extra nail and hung a picture Peter Meyer had made for Ed, featuring Ed, Peter, Barbara and me, a previous Time Inc. Gang of Four. 

   Ed looked at the picture and said, "Am in in that?"

   "Yes," Stephen said. "You are in every frame."