Lounge Member No. 9-1063

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YELLOW FEATHER
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When we were young and life was innocent
we spent a lot of time with drums and cheer.
Guitars, cigarettes and lots of beer
It was how we lived and dreamed.

Life was just beginning for many who thought
it was just all fun, games and good times.
We all thought that that’s how it should have been
but it was not how it should have seemed.

Now we are older and we care to know
how things turned out between the scenes.
Why we were meant to meet again as time goes on,
and we venture on, friends lost and found again.

Many times you ask how it came to be,
that this life is linked all the same.
With family and friends that were long lost
and now are forever welded strong.

It is a fine feeling that now we are
the people we are supposed to be.
No distance can keep it apart, now that we met
again as friends from the past.

Why you ask that it be of importance,
that you are there again for someone who cares.
He is my brother a close one at that
that never knew that we were friends.

When we were young and life was innocent.

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Nine Valentine’s Days Apart

It cannot be a coincidence. How often does it happen that two of your siblings in a family of nine were born on the same day? That one of them is second to the eldest and one is second to the youngest? That both were born on the second week of the second month of the year-Valentine’s Day? And that the last two digits of the years of their birth are interchangeable? It must have been fate, that both struck out at an early age to pursue a life that was quite out of the norm. Both had quite the guts to stand unwavering on their life decisions, and both are quite successful in spite of the obstacles they had to hurdle. So on this day, we would like to greet you both happy “Birthtine’s”.

A Decade After

As the day broke it seemed a bit different from the usual daily grind that occurred. His normal grogginess was snapped short by the realization of his impending departure. He sat on his bed just staring at a half empty box of items and personal effects that he would be taking along on his journey. He realized that he has less than 24 hours to go before leaving his birthland. Many things were distracting his concentration to make judgments on what to take and what to leave behind. A week prior, he had already sealed 3 boxes and marked them. Two of the boxes had a note taped on with a message saying: “may be disposed of” and the last one said, “I want to see this again.”

He often had to stop due to the swirl of thoughts popping in and out in his mind. He was bringing life into this world and how would it turn out? What will happen to his life? Where was he going? What would he do? How would he break the news to his parents? And on the other hand what and whom was he leaving behind? Was it the right thing to do? He was nervous but excited in an uncanny way. Now he took a swig of beer that was beginning to warm up from the tropical heat. He took a long drag from the cigarette burning in the ashtray beside his bed and continued on with the task at hand.

It was late afternoon by now and a queue of visitors start flowing in to bid their last goodbyes. Family members and friends, one by one they came and at times as one was leaving the next would arrive. It was quite a bizarre scene and in the back of his mind the box was still half empty. Later in the evening a whole pack of former colleagues arrived bringing spirits and laughter. They decided to throw him a last minute going away party. Arrrrgh! Just what he needed. So into the night they stayed and exchanged stories of about who he was and what he did. They reminded him of many people and events that he affected. More beer was being passed around; more stories were being told. It was now 7 hours before take off, he had to go back and forth to his room and his guests so he could seal the box. They finally had to call it a night at 3:00 am…by this time inebriated and tired. The last items were thrown in though not full, the box was sealed.

He caught an hour of restless sleep in time to take his last shower and bid his niece and nephews a last goodbye. His brother and 2 friends rushed on the still dark highway toward the airport. It was 5 am. Last farewells were said, and he was on his own. A few hours later it was time. He got on the aircraft with a heavy heart. His window seat had a view of the tarmac, as the engines were fired his hands got cold. The thrust of take off was quick; soon he felt the wheels of the plane become airborne. Now his heart sank as he watched his city get smaller by the minute and as soon as they broke through the clouds it was all gone. It was just the beginning. He left ten years ago today.

Is the box now full?

ER Episode1

Thursday Feb 1: Jake had a nice evening dinner with Gianna and his best friend/man Fenny. Gianna called it a night at around 9:00 pm due to medication side effects for her phlegm-induced clogged lungs. Jake stayed up and had a lengthy discussion with Fenny about his upcoming travel to the motherland and Fenny’s situation regarding his own future back “home”. Fenny then notices that the night was calling so bid goodbye. Time: 10:30 pm. Jake went to bed at 11:00pm. The night was still.

Friday Feb. 2: 2:30 am. He wakes from an excruciating pain in and around his solar plexus, he crumples and convulses in pain. 3:30 am. After praying to God to make the pain go away he finally decides to wake Gianna up and tell her what is happening. She assesses the situation and asks him some questions. Jake is in so much pain by now and says she needs to call the Doctor. So Gianna calls and the doctor asks what the symptoms are, she explains and after a few words exchanged she passes the phone on to Jake. “On a scale of 1 to 10, how much pain are you experiencing?” “Uh, between 7 to 8, I can’t really talk it hurts so much” then passes the phone back to Gianna. A few more words exchanged and Jake hears “in 10 minutes”. So Gianna gets dressed and tells him “I’ll get the car around and go up and get you.” Jake does not wait, he dresses up and waits by the window and sees the car arriving downstairs. He grabs his keys and gets going still clutching his abdomen. 28 steps down and into the car. Time: 4:30 am. Kaiser Permanente Hospital, Redwood City, Ca. EMERGENCY ROOM.

Time: 4:45 am. Admitted -BP 139/90. More waiting, then again, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how much pain are you experiencing?” “Between 7 to 8!” Lead into a hospital bed and asked to undress. He is separated by a curtain with a woman in the next bed groaning in pain. RN #1: Same questions and explains that they will have to do “tests” on him. RN #2 smiling says this won’t hurt. A few minutes later, 4 vials are filled with his blood, a plastic catheter is in his arm, red “dot” stickers are attached to his chest and connected to an EKG meter, and a finger up his pwet. A doctor now enters but the pain makes him deaf to the words. Asked to drink a “GI cocktail” of Lidocaine and Mylanta, the drink made his tongue and throat numb, but the pain remains. Again “On a scale of 1 to 10, how much pain are you experiencing?” “Between 7 to 8!” Another option: morphine. A small shot later, he sees little dots with tails resembling sperm on a Petri dish and then a weird facial tingle all the way up to the roots of his hair. Then ahhhh…he feels the pain going away. Again, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how much pain are you experiencing?” “Beshweewn 2 to 3.” His eyes are rolling and his speech is slurred. Soon, he is asked to pee in a cup otherwise a plastic tube will be used. In a panic, he finds urine. Time: 7:45 am.

Drugged and confused, he hears codes and dinging as two ambulances arrive. However, time passes quickly and an orderly is there to pick him up for an ultrasound. 8:30 am. A woman rubs a cream and device all over his abdomen for a photo shoot. 8:40 am Sitting in a metal wheelchair waiting to be taken back to ER. 9:00 am. Thirsty and still waiting. Pwet is sore. 9:30 am Finally in new bed and waiting for doctor. 10:00 New doctor arrives and says Jake has “gastritis” and gives him information on heartburn. Jake knows he does not have heartburn. 10:30 am. Picks up heartburn and pain killer medicine at pharmacy. 11:00 am. Back home. 12 noon. Passes out and wonders what happened.