| I was in a big, huge, enormous mansion. The room I was in, however, was very small, and packed with people. We were all waiting outside of this huge brown door. Everyone was silent and very tense. I was sitting in the corner, near a table with some magazines, and picked one up to read. The cover read “Al’s Tragedy” with a sad picture of Al. Inside was an article about how his third wife, Suzanne, was ill and dying. (All three of his wives had been named Suzanne.) I put the magazine down and sat there, waiting for word on how Suzanne III was doing. Just then, the door swung open to reveal Al, dressed in a black tshirt and black pants. He had been sitting by Suzanne’s bed for the past week, just watching her and talking to her. I stood up and beckoned to him. He looked over at me and, eyes filling with tears, stumbled through the room to me. I led him out into the next room, where we sat by the wall. He scrubbed at his eyes with his hands, bit his lip and looked at the wall. I patted him on the leg, and he turned and looked at me, eyes bright with held-back tears. “It’s okay, Al…it’s all right to cry…” His face just crumpled, and he started sobbing. I hugged him as he cried into my shoulder. We stayed like that for about an hour, me patting his back and just being there for him, Al crying and crying. Eventually, he pulled away and sat for a second, drying his eyes. “Are you going to be okay?” I asked. He nodded. “You’re such a nice person-how am I ever going to repay you?” he suddenly blurted out. “It’s okay Al, really…” “No, no, I’ve got to do something.” He reached over to his other side and picked up my accordion. He signed it and handed it to me. “It’s not much, but…” “Thank you, Al!” I gave him a big hug. He seemed a bit surprised, but he hugged me back. Then, to take our minds off the current events, we played with hillbilly possum dolls that were dangling from the ceiling. Al’s was named Lurleen. We played for hours and hours...eventually winding up creating the first ever possum civilization. Too sad for me! I don't know what spawned that...possibly worrying about starting college. My Take On It Next Dream |
| Al's Tragedy 08/28/01 SAD |