COVID-19 AND THINKING ABOUT THE PAST AND LOST LOVE

Menschy Cohen was thinking about Lisa Mandelbaum. It was the middle of the night and he was in bed, but her name and image wouldn’t leave his mind. He had been in home isolation for four months and the one thing the Covid 19 plague had allowed him to do was give a lot of thought to the past.

At sixty and looking back there were so many things that Menschy had experienced. He had loved his life, except there were also failures. He had to admit to his shortcomings. He was devoted to his parents and he had ignored his own desires or at least had sub-ligated them for others. He was often asked if it was wise that he had devoted so much of his life to his family and his response was always the same. ‘’If a child isn’t there for his parents then what does ’Honour Thy Mother and Thy Father?’’ mean on the Ten Commandments?’’

Menschy found dating was much different than it had been in his twenties. Now when he went out he heard about medical conditions, operations, Grandchildren, shmucky ex-husbands, husbands who died, and retirement plans.

It was hard to explain what Lisa Mandelbaum was doing in his thoughts. They had gone on a few dates but Menschy hadn’t been ready for any kind of commitment, so they had a very amicable break up. Why thirty years later was her name circulating around his brain?

Menschy was making himself an omelette, when he started thinking about Lisa. He remembered going to a Wedding with her. It was her cousin Jody who was getting married and they had a tremendously good time dancing the night away. The Wedding was held at the Windsor Arms. Lisa’s parents were incredibly warm and it was a fun night. The only issue Menschy had during the night was a lack of control at the sweet table. He stood in front of the chocolate fountain like he was hypnotized.

When they left the Wedding, he took Lisa back to her place and she made a cup of green tea for him. They made out a bit and then had a long discussion about the importance of marriage. Menschy had told her he believed in the sanctity of marriage and could never understand people who cheated. The night ended with Lisa thanking him for making her cousin’s wedding such a spectacularly wonderful event. The feeling they shared between them was magical.