Idamae Friedel
"Sweet 16 I'm not," Lower East Side

     I’m homebound because of what happened to me. I fell, so I was in the hospital quite a few times 8 years ago. I have an aide that takes care of me. Her name is Fanny, and she comes from Haiti. I never had a sister; she is my sister. She went to my great grandson’s bris. She’s with me all the time.
     I used to go to synagogue across the street every week. I can’t do the steps now, but I miss it. Some friends I can see from the window, so I wave to them. That’s my nature. The Chinese people, I see them making the exercises, they know me. So I stand by the window and I do it also.
     I read everything under the sun, but I only read things I can learn something from. No magazines. I read the newspapers of Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Post. I’m a book lover from way back. I have the Bible, the Koran, the dictionary. I even have something from the Jehovah Witnesses. I say my prayers in the morning. I say "Scare me, but don’t punish me." And do you know what else I say? I say the St. Francis prayer.