this Tim, the priest I got you for your funeral was arrested and charged for child fiddling…’ There was an article in the newspaper. I came out of my trance. Finally. After that I resolved to laugh good and hard every chance I got. He died on Father’s Day, so we put all his presents in with him. I let them touch him, do what they wanted, I didn’t want them traumatized, after all it was their father. As if. The guests must have elected Brenda, she came to talk to m

. She is always trying to make me speak Italian, so I told her in Italian to F off, and that her face is ugly. The others at the table can’t understand why she gets so aggressive. If it weren’t for Ellie and Don, I would be dead. They are the others at the table. They feed me, and fight my battles. She looks after him, and he is quality control. She provides care for his dog, and he walks it. She is very agreeable, while he is very contrary. Everybody wanted them

Diane, a PSW, shared her friend with me. I guess she had a bad stroke, and was in a wheelchair, like me. I kept up with her online. She told me all about Fred. Dianes friend, Pauline, made an impressive recovery, and even learned how to talk. One time Fred picked a fight with Ralph, and the PSWs took the side of Ralph, a resident too, and of course they did the write up. Fred is considered violent now. Be a Pauline, not a Fred they say. That’s a thing; schoolyard poli

My eyes are buggy. No one can see it, but one eye goes round and round. It can’t focus. It’s the left side; the side I am paralyzed on, and to make things worse, I have ataxia on that side too. The prism glasses help, but to me, it still feels like I just got off one those round things we ran around spinning as a kid. It feels like that all the time. I don’t think they put them in parks anymore; probably too many kids got hurt. Too bad for me though. Its tough having so

I guess I’m an f’ing miracle; I couldn’t even breath without help. I will never forget my daughter’s desperate plea to me to ‘just breathe.` So I did. I have fiercely held whatever ground I have gained since. Sometimes I come to consciousness and I wonder why I breathed. Then I just wheel myself out for coffee; I hate myself, but I will not squander the gift of life. I believe it ill get better. I `woke up’ with hemi-paresis, even in my face. My eye is buggy, I ha

She put off getting rid of Sandra; she actually liked having her around. There was no cooking allowed, and she needed something, or someone to take care of. She enjoyed having her around, because Sandra raptly listened to her stories, and she went out in the yard with her every day. In fact, Sandra did whatever she wanted. At night China listened to her breathe, wanted to get in bed with her, but resisted. What would she do with her. All that she knew, was that she was

. She coached China to wait until the last moment to call. China had another operation; it was her 26th. This time, it was on her Carotid Artery. Her specialist ordered it. It needed to be cleared and reinforced, so she wouldn’t have a stroke. At first, the hospital wouldn’t do it; they said it was too risky, so she took matters into her own hands. Miriam had driven her to her appointment, and her specialist had ordered the requisite tests. She trusted him implicitly.

The lawyer couldn’t come for a month. The hospital recommended she call the cops, so she did. The cops found out, not only was it all Hildi who took everything, but she had drained her bank account too. So now, was she not only homeless, but she had nothing as well The hospital was mad, and they took her off as Next-of-kin. The cops waited for her to tell them when to arrest Hildi. They wanted to build a case first, and she wanted to confront Hildi. It must have been i

. She was fired from her job, they said she was too dragged out looking, and her doctor said she had heart problems, even at her age, so she never got up at all. Hildi fed the animals, cooked for her, and came twice a day now. She fed her twice a day, with the animals, she never had to ask, and it never cost her a thing. Hildi just cooked for two; she was already used to it. China ate what Hildi ate, and she never complained. She was lucky to have a friend like Hildi.

. He told her. She said it only proved how much he loved her. He got worse. That’s when she made her move. She broke up with him. She said he didn’t need him. He begged her, and told her all the things that were wrong with him; that’s when she went back with him. Romeo learned to get desperate, beg, and plead, so she would go back with him. Every time, he was so relieved when she did, though sometimes it took days, and that was a long time to go without food and sleep.

Before long, she was completely naked. He described his penis, and the feeling of it in his hand. China imagined it was her. She writhed. Romeo said he was tasting her. He said she tasted like salted pomegrant. She liked that. It made her writhe more; she told him. She pressed, and jiggled her own button, but imagined it was him. She backed off to make it last longer. He described her as elegant, blond, and svelte. Like her picture; like she saw herself. She descri

She planted patches of Sweet Box and Snow Drops, because they would bloom all winter. Somebody gave her those with a couple of big rocks. People from the community donated lights. China fixed them, and strung them throughout the garden. Then she trimmed, but didn’t cut down, and cover up, the Grasses Cedars, and Red Dogwood. She cultivated the garden, used a mulch she got for free, and made shapes out of the stones she found. Someone on the internet gave her two Holly

from Quebec. It was as glamorous as she could imagine. After Guido and Ginger were fed, and the dishes were done, there would still be a couple hours before Hildi came over, so she would go online. It was a glamorous, full life, but she never told a single soul about it. On the weekends, she hunted for Guido, took care of the gardens, went to the barbecue, and went to church. Hildi still came over in the evenings, but now she brought homemade soup from lunch. China’s

didn’t. They asked her about the aquarium, and she said Al and Liz gave it to her, because she was thinking of buying some goldfish when she got back home. They took her sticks, moss, and rocks away from her. They said there might be insects living in them. That’s probably what he was eating, because he wouldn’t eat any of the steak she was giving him. China told them everything she did, and ate, in every detail, and whether or not, she liked it. She even told them abou

for that. She had water in the trunk. In jugs. There was lots. China had to carry one. She guessed that the criteria must have had something to do with their hierarchy, because there were four, she carried the heaviest one, and Liz carried none; she made all the decisions and barked anytime someone strayed from the road. Liz kept harping that if the store-guy came looking for them, and if he was going to find them, then they would have to stick to the map. It was hot.

problem. They ate the hot dogs and laid back down. The brothers fell asleep, and started spooning. Al adjusted the angle of the umbrella a couple times to cover them with shade. China laid very still. There was herbed pork tenderloin and noodles, with sweet, buttered peas, homemade by Liz for supper. Of course, there was a tofu version of the pork for China. California was proving to be a great place to shop for veggie items. Liz didn’t have any trouble at all. The next

They had the same thing for breakfast the day they drove into Hollywood, to tour the Paramount Studios, as they did before. Always a hearty breakfast, and no lunch. They were good’n hungry by the time supper rolled around, and they always came back to eat at Liz and Al’s. It started with them holding hands; she caught them pulling away from each other, as if they were worms, and somebody had just turned the lights on, when one opened the door, and the other may not have kn

were the greatest thing of all. China didn’t care; she told Liz she was peckish. Liz told her to wait for supper, they were almost done, and that they would decide where to go tomorrow. Liz was right; from there, they went back to the bus stop. Dinner was a pie made out of the leftovers and a salad with homemade Sour Cream Ranch Dressing. Liz made a small pie for her out of the tofu turkey that she was asked to leave. She made it perfect, and everybody received a perfect

Kentucky, an’ Tennessee on the way back…see a lot of the USA…trip ‘o a lifetime…’ They pulled apart, and finished their coffees at the same time, asked for more, and loaded them up with cream and sugar. They were close, China observed, they even looked like each other. China let her brothers and sister-in-law decide where to go; where ever they decided would okay with her, after all, Al and Liz were paying. They chose to drive to Hollywood everyday, but the first day they

and Liz’s place, she went to the bathroom, and right to bed. Tomorrow, she was going to meet her two other brothers for real. The next morning, she woke up listening for the voices of her other brothers. She would recognize them from the previous calls. China was so excited. She rushed down the stairs to find that they were still in bed. They had driven all night, arrived late, had something to eat, and they always slept-in anyway. So, she glumly ate the breakfast off