Hello, my name is Fred.
Well, it isn’t really, it never really was, but it was one of those things in my circle back in high school.
Ceals, Bud, Ike, Gert and Fred. There was also Ceals’s older brother, but I can’t remember for the life of me what we called him in the Land of Make-Believe Names…
Back in high school, Gert ruled. She always had the best energy, the lightest heart about things. We all had such a great time together, I think in good part to her personality and humor.
My first car, a 1976 lime green SAAB, was renamed the Queen Gertrude in her honor, and mostly because every time it broke down (and it was always breaking down, Gert was riding in it… LOL It seemed that Gert broke down a lot of our cars in those days.
All of these people, except the older brother are on my facebook. Of course, don’t go looking for them by these names… although, somewhere, there are photos of us all in sweatshirts with those names painted on… Yeah, I know… but, hey, it was the eighties; if that was my worst choice made in that decade (and it wasn’t) I would be doing okay.
Anyway, back to Gert… Well, back to the woman that used to be called Gert. She is on my Facebook but we only ever occasionally speak to each other.
My mom just called before I started this post. It would seem that Dad’s nursing home is a Hub of the Universe (except the reunions there aren’t as happy and gay as 18th and Castro). First my Uncle, who died back in January.
Now, Gert’s parents. They were in an auto accident and both were admitted to the nursing home for therapy to recover from their wounds. I am told that Gert’s mother died today. She had a heart attack during therapy and, as she was being attended to, had a second attack…
I am not even sure yet if Gert is aware of this.
And I just don’t know if I know how to use Facebook to say “Oh, hey! Sorry your mother died.”
This stinks.
And Dad goes in for another surgery this Friday. I just can’t say everything balled up in that. His knee is a mess, he has been living mostly in a bed for far too long and he is losing too much muscle… Ugh. If this one doesn’t work, fusing the knee or amputation will be the last remaining options… One if the joint doesn’t work, the other if he gets another infection.
This has been so poorly handled and I am still angry at my father for wasting so much of his life not taking care of himself.
gryphon's hole 