Looking in the rear view mirror: The Land That Made Me, Me

The Land That Made Me, Me

https://allpoetry.com/poem/5128425-The-Land-That-Made-Me–Me-by-windian

Long ago and far away,
In a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan,
Or the dawn of Camelot.

There lived a race of innocents,
And they were you and me,
Long ago and far away
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

Oh, there was truth and goodness
In that land where we were born,
Where navels were for oranges,
And Peyton Place was porn.

For Ike was in the White House,
And Hoss was on TV,
And God was in His heaven
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

We learned to gut a muffler,
We washed our hair at dawn,
We spread our crinolines to dry
In circles on the lawn.

And they could hear us coming
All the way to Tennessee,
All starched and sprayed and rumbling
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

We longed for love and romance,
And waited for the prince,
And Eddie Fisher married Liz,
And no one’s seen him since.

We danced to “Little Darlin”,
And Sang to “Stagger Lee”
And cried for Buddy Holly
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

Only girls wore earrings then,
And three was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts,
Except for Jean McKinney.

And only in our wildest dreams
Did we expect to see
A boy named George with Lipstick,
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon,
Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie,
They never made it twice.

We didn’t have a Star Trek Five,
Or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold,
And Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat
Whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr Wizard,
But not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn’t talk, yet
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had our share of heroes,
We never thought they’d go,
At least not Bobby Darin,
Or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal,
And life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever,
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

We’d never seen the rock band
That was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren’t named Jefferson,
And Zeppelins weren’t Led.

And Beatles lived in gardens then,
And Monkees in a tree,
Madonna was a virgin
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

We’d never heard of Microwaves,
Or telephones in cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed,
But they weren’t grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out,
And “gay” meant fancy-free,
And dorms were never coed
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

We hadn’t seen enough of jets
To talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left at
The bottom of the bag.

And Hardware was a box of nails,
And bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

Buicks came with portholes,
And side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough
To cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles,
And skirts came to the knee,
And Castro came to power
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride,
We had no Hill Street Blues,
We all wore superstructure bras
Designed by Howard Hughes.

We had no patterned pantyhose
Or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for condoms
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

There were no golden arches,
No Perriers to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda,
And cats were not called Bill.

And middle-aged was thirty-five
And old was forty-three,
And ancient was our parents
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

But all things have a season,
Or so we’ve heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline
We swear by Retin-A.

And they send us invitations
To join AARP,
We’ve come a long way, baby,
From the Land That Made Me, Me.

So now we face a brave new world
In slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they’re using
Smaller print in magazines.

And we tell our children’s children
Of the way it used to be,
Long ago, and far away
In the Land That Made Me, Me.

JUST ONE BAD EXAMPLE of the expert witnesses that federal prosecutors hire

A Snake Takes the Stand

https://www.daily-remedy.com/a-snake-takes-the-stand/

Watch out for Snakes… In the Grass and the Courtroom

An article I read in The Expert Witness Newsletter (it’s a thing), reported that a 13-year-old girl was bitten on her foot by a rattlesnake one night just after 8 pm. Her father killed the snake and took a picture, which is always smart, and brought the snake to the ER, which is usually not that smart. The picture shows that the snake still had its head, and, as any herpetologist will tell you, they can bite reflexively even after they are “dead.”

For what it’s worth, I did the same thing with a copperhead as a child, sending my elderly neighbor into a personal best sprint when I held it out. I, in fact, have the rare honor of having been bitten by three out of four of America’s poisonous snakes, copperheads, water moccasins, and rattlesnakes. Growing up in rural Arkansas has more disadvantages than you might think. I’m still watching for a coral snake, so I’ll have a full set, but since that’s a neurotoxin instead of a blood toxin, I’m in no hurry.

This young girl was seen at the ER within an hour, and her foot showed a little swelling and quite wide fang marks, meaning it was a big snake. The hospital had a snake bite protocol, and they completed a Snakebite Severity Score (SSS), which I always hear as a hissing sound, and it shows the following.  Pulmonary (0), Cardiovascular (0), Pain/Swelling/Ecchymosis<7.5-50cm (2), GI(0), Hematological (0) due to a completely normal set of labs at 9:24 pm, and CNS was 0. According to the CroFab decision tree, 3 or less means no antivenom, so with a score of 2, none was given. She developed some paresthesia of the toes, which took her to a 3. Still, no antivenom was indicated. The ER physician ordered a repeat CBC, BMP, and coagulation panel, which showed a thrombocytopenia of 88 thou/cu mm (150-450) and fibrinogen 179mg/dL (200-393) at 11:39 pm.

This bumped her up above 3, and antivenom was ordered at 11:50 pm, and infused at 29 minutes after midnight. The patient was transferred to a pediatric medical center, where the swelling and redness worsened initially and then improved. Now, the fun has started.  The family had wanted the ER doctor to give the CroFab immediately in the first place, despite the SSS score, and blamed the girl’s lingering symptoms on the wait. The hospital wrote off the bill, which, with the CroFab having cost almost $70,000, was not inconsiderable, but this was not enough. An out-of-state ER “expert” was asked to write an opinion, and he said that after reviewing the medical and billing records, he had determined that the patient’s lingering symptoms were the result of the delay in giving the antivenom saying, among much else, “the only cure for envenomation is antivenom.”

As an ER physician and frequent target of snake bites, I can tell you this is not true. The other cure for envenomation is time; it worked for me. What used to be called “Tincture of Time” is often ignored today as medical science advances, but weighing the risks and benefits of therapy sometimes makes doing nothing the best option at that point. Watchful waiting, as we used to say. Medications have consequences, and for CroFab, these include, among many others, irregular heartbeat, severe swelling, difficulty breathing, chest pain, bone pain, back pain, weight loss, and black tarry stools. The expert went on to opine, “Immediate administration of antivenom was necessary for once she exhibited signs of envenomation. To not immediately administer antivenom is negligent and falls below the standard of care for an emergency medicine physician.”

The ER doctor and hospital argued that they had followed established protocols, and this swayed the first court to throw out the lawsuit. The appellate court, however, reversed, saying that the guidelines followed did not negate the possibility that adherence to the guidelines posed an extreme risk of harm. This decision was appealed to the state’s Supreme Court. The American College of Emergency Physicians filed an amicus brief in support of the ER doctor’s decision and reversed the appellate court, dismissing the case.

This brings us back to the “expert” witness claiming that the standard of care was to give the Crofab immediately. Why would they make this claim when ER textbooks and CME say otherwise? The answer is simple. Because they are paid to do so. These experts are coached by civil and criminal attorneys to say whatever is necessary to convince a jury. But can’t we just pull up the “true” standard of care? The answer is that we cannot because US courts have become convinced that the standard of care resides only in the experts’ opinions.

In fact, here is what one expert said under oath as he helped send an 81-year-old physician, Dr. William Bauer, to years in prison. “…the standard of care is a compilation of peer-reviewed articles, position papers, white papers, guidelines published by the government, by professional agencies, and in compendium as those various observations, recommendations and scientific knowledge are brought together, that defines the standard of care in terms of how we practice. So it is not something one can go to a book and Google standard of care and find out what it was for 2017, let’s say, or whatever date we might choose. It would have to be put forth and compiled by somebody like me.”

And there you have it. According to the paid court experts, the standard of care is not to be found in the definitive textbooks like Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine for the ER doctor, or the Principles and Practice of Pain Medicine by Bajwa, Wooten, and Warfield, which compile and correlate the collected wisdom and experience of hundreds of physicians who are experts in the treatment of pain. No, it can only be determined after the fact, by the paid experts. But where can we go to sit at the feet of these oracles of medical brilliance to know the standards and practice them? To avoid prosecution and ensure the best outcome for our patients? Nowhere. You will only know the standard of care when someone smacks you with it in court.

This would mean that there is no true standard of care. Everything is relative, and whatever you can convince a jury of is the “truth” without regard to evidence-based science. How did we get here? Just like the now discredited bite mark and bullet spectroscopic analysis experts, It started when US courts first ruled expert medical testimony admissible in the early 1800s. At that time, the experts were drawn from medical practitioners whose standing was renowned among their peers. Now, there is an entire industry devoted to expert testimony, and while practicing doctors are held to almost impossible standards, expert witnesses, many of whom no longer practice much clinical medicine, are not held to any true standards at all.

They can make the most outrageous claims to a medically naïve jury as if these claims were fact when they are, in truth, contrary to every textbook and evidence-based medical opinion. Let me give you an example. To earn his 125,000+ pieces of silver against Dr. Bauer, the expert for the prosecution, told the jury that there was a “lifetime cumulative dose of steroids” that Dr. Bauer had exceeded. When challenged, he could only quote one source in Korea for this “fact.” He attacked the use of trigger point steroid injections, saying there was a “general feeling “ that they should not be used. Implying that their use was essentially fraud.

But the witness didn’t stop there; he went on to say that “Steroids are like opioids for the most part” because “…opioids and steroids will make you feel good…” and that opiate medication should not be used in women of “child-bearing age…” Implying that they cause birth problems and “addictiveness” in the child. This is a powerful appeal to emotion, essentially saying that a callous physician is harming children. Claims like these should be held up to a very high level of scrutiny or, more appropriately, banned from the courtroom completely unless they are proven to be a true consensus opinion. And not just that of a single or even a few “experts.”

But can’t the defense just hire its own experts? Not in Dr. Bauer’s case. Several of the most prominent physician experts on pain and addiction who were willing to testify for the defense had their offices raided, and assets seized prior to the recent purge of physicians treating those conditions. Some were prosecuted while others were just left in limbo, terrified every day that the sword would fall, absolutely petrified to testify for any defendant, and risk angering the gods of federal law enforcement.

Others were brave enough to show up for Dr. Bauer. About a dozen, in fact. Physicians, pharmacists, and scientists. All were disqualified by the court. Apparently, they weren’t “expert” enough. Can’t we just hire this expert for the defense, you might ask? No. Like almost all of these professional medical experts, they will only testify for the prosecution. This expert, by his own sworn admission, has NEVER testified for the defense. That’s not where the real money is, apparently. He has made millions of dollars convincing juries to send his colleagues to prison for daring to practice medicine in a manner that the DEA doesn’t think is right. I’m still searching, but to date, I can find no example of this particular “expert” disagreeing with the prosecutors in any meaningful way. Not even once. But I’ll keep looking.

NOW , WHO CORRECTS THIS HORRIFIC HARM, SUFFERING, PAIN OF INJUSTICE COMMITTED ON DR. KENDALL HANSEN, MD., AQUITTED INTERVENTIONAL ANESTHESIOLOGIST, OF N. KENTUCKY???


UKUNQOBA
VICTORY!!! Ukunqoba kulomhlaba wezono (Victory in this sinful world) Igazi lika Jesu linyenyez’ Ukunqoba (The blood of Jesus brings victory.)

NOW, WHO IS GOING TO CORRECT THE UNSPEAKABLE HARM, PAIN, SUFFERING, AND INJUSTICES DONE TO DR. KENDALL HANSAN, MD, OF N. KENTUCKY, WHO WAS FOUND NOT GUILTY??? DEA, STAY OUT!!!: “ON MEDICAL PAIN CARE TREATMENT” (republished, Orig., November 25, 2022)

DEA Failed To Explain Rejection Of Psilocybin Waiver To Treat Cancer

How many times has a parent told their kid or you were told as a kid, when the kid did not agree with a parent’s decision, mandate, or edict and the parent’s only rationale was “BECAUSE” or “BECAUSE I SAID SO”.   This article seems that the DEA is treating this physician and his request for a trial/using Psilocybin in END OF LIFE CANCER PTS. Like “kids”,” because we said so”

 

DEA Failed To Explain Rejection Of Psilocybin Waiver To Treat Cancer Patients, Federal Appeals Court Challenge Says

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/dea-failed-to-explain-rejection-of-psilocybin-waiver-to-treat-cancer-patients-federal-appeals-court-challenge-says/

Lawyers for a doctor in Washington State seeking to legally use psilocybin for end-of-life care argue in a new federal appeals court filing that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) failed to explain a key decision when it denied him access to the psychedelic. They’re asking judges to reverse that move, calling it arbitrary and capricious, and order the government to review the matter anew.

The opening brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit last week is the latest development in what’s become a years-long effort by Dr. Sunil Aggarwal and the Advanced Integrative Medical Science (AIMS) Institute to treat terminally ill cancer patients with psilocybin.

The new action takes aim against DEA’s decision in 2022 to deny Aggarwal’s requests to access psilocybin under state and federal right-to-try (RTT) laws, which give patients with terminal conditions the opportunity to try investigational medications that have not been approved for general use.

Washington State adopted a right-to-try law in 2017, and then-President Donald Trump signed the federal Right to Try Act the following year. Dozens of other states have enacted their own right-to-try policies.

Over the years, Aggarwal has presented DEA with multiple proposals in order either to legally cultivate or otherwise obtain psilocybin to treat his patients, arguing that the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) must accommodate a path to legally accessing the substance under RTT laws.

“DEA has rejected each request,” the new brief says, “but has never addressed the arguments that Dr. Aggarwal has raised in support of them.”

In 2022, DEA rejected a regulatory waiver that would have opened a path to Aggarwal legally obtaining psilocybin. The brief claims the agency had granted similar waivers in the past, but “DEA did not consider his arguments based on the agency’s precedent in this regard, nor did it provide a reasoned explanation for treating his request differently from similar ones it has dealt with in the past.”

“If DEA wants to disclaim authority to grant Dr. Aggarwal access to psilocybin under the CSA and RTT,” it continues, “it must provide a reasoned explanation for how that decision comports with the CSA and the agency’s own precedent.”

Instead, DEA’s decision “denied Petitioners’ request on grounds that permitting Dr. Aggarwal to access psilocybin as the Petition requested would not be ‘consistent with public health and safety,’” the brief says. “As support for that contention, DEA pointed to the statutory characteristics of schedule I drugs and claimed that the proposed activity—permitting psilocybin to be used therapeutically with dying patients under RTT’s terms—presented ‘too great a departure from current law.’”

The brief notes that the Ninth Circuit in October issued a ruling in Aggarwal’s favor on another matter, regarding a separate but related petition to reschedule psilocybin. In that case, judges said DEA failed to explain its reasoning when it denied that petition, and the court ordered the agency to provide a more complete justification, later denying Aggarwal’s request to instead send the petition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“For the same reason this Court remanded DEA’s inadequate denial letter in Aggarwal less than four months ago,” it says, “it must remand DEA’s Final Decision in this case as well.”

Lawyers for the AIMS Institute say in the opening brief that the court “should grant the petition for review, declare DEA’s Final Decision unlawful, set it aside, and remand this matter to the agency with instructions either to grant Dr. Aggarwal’s Petition or provide the reasoned explanation for denying it” as the law requires.

In short, “DEA denied Dr. Aggarwal’s Petition without addressing key arguments and reasons he raised, including ones based on the statutory text and DEA precedent,” the brief argues. “Was DEA’s Final Decision arbitrary and capricious? Yes.”

Amicus briefs in the case are expected later this week, on Thursday, according to Kathryn Tucker, one of the attorneys representing plaintiffs in the case, AIMS v. DEA 22-1568. DEA’s response deadline is April 8, with a reply from Aggarwal’s lawyers due the next month.

Aggarwal has been working since at least 2020 to find a way to legally obtain psilocybin for patients in palliative care, initially seeking to win permission from regulators under state and federal RTT laws.

When DEA rebuffed that request, Aggarwal sued. But in early 2022, a federal appellate panel dismissed the lawsuit, opining that the court lacked jurisdiction because DEA’s rejection of Aggarwal’s administrative request didn’t constitute a reviewable agency action.

The current Ninth Circuit cases stems from Aggarwal’s responses to that ruling. In February 2022, the doctor filed a formal petition with DEA to reschedule psilocybin from Schedule I to Schedule II under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA)—the denial of which is a reviewable action. He also applied for the regulatory waiver to obtain psilocybin.

DEA denied Aggarwal’s petition in September 2022 and rejected the waiver request the next month. The doctor’s Ninth Circuit cases challenge both decisions.

As Aggarwal’s efforts have made its way through the courts, a number of studies have strengthened the case for psilocybin’s legitimate medical use. In response, Congress late last year sent a defense bill to President Joe Biden (D) that contains provisions to fund studies into the therapeutic use of psychedelics such as psilocybin and MDMA for military service members.

A recent clinical trial published by the American Medical Association, meanwhile, found that psilocybin “displayed strong and persistent antidepressant effects” in people with bipolar II disorder, “with no signal of worsening mood instability or increased suicidality.”

In September of last year, researchers at Johns Hopkins and Ohio State universities published a report that linked psilocybin use with “persisting reductions” in depression, anxiety and alcohol misuse, as well as increases in emotional regulation, spiritual wellbeing and extraversion.

Those results were “highly consistent with a growing body of clinical trial, behavioral pharmacology, and epidemiological data on psilocybin,” authors of the study said. “Overall, these data provide an important window into the current resurgence of public interest in classic psychedelics and the outcomes of contemporaneous increases in naturalistic psilocybin use.”

Last August, a separate study from the American Medical Association (AMA) found that people with major depression experienced “clinically significant sustained reduction” in their symptoms after just one dose of psilocybin.

And a survey by Canadian researchers published in October said psilocybin use can help ease psychological distress in people who had adverse experiences as children. Researchers said psilocybin appeared to offer “particularly strong benefits to those with more severe childhood adversity.”

Canada, for its part, allowed four cancer patients in 2020 to become the nation’s first people in decades to legally possess psilocybin after being granted permission by the country’s health minister to use the substance for end-of-life care. Later that year, some healthcare professionals also gained the ability to legally possess and use psilocybin themselves.

A survey published earlier this year found that roughly 8 in 10 Canadians believe psilocybin is “a reasonable choice” for end-of-life care.

A WARNING ABOUT CVS PHARMACY

I am a pharmacist writing this to spare you from suffering the same outcomes I have. This is a warning to not, under any circumstances, accept a position with cvs. It has ruined the lives of everyone I know that has worked for the company for any significant number of years. I don’t know any pharmacists in this company who have not had to take antidepressants or anti anxiety medications in addition to a slew of other medications for their generally ruined health. Now, to my horror, I have realized that is happening to me as well. I was once an athlete, and now find that my ability to maintain my health has been permanently stolen now that that my feet and knees are destroyed to the point that I can no longer run or even jog. I thought it wouldn’t happen to me. At least not this fast, but don’t underestimate the damage that forced standing for 10-14 hours per day will do to you. Of course, you wouldn’t have to stand all day if you weren’t forced to constantly be doing the jobs of three people. But you will, because the intentional business model of this company is to never provide enough staff. I want to emphasize this point, because it is the foundation of a hundred other problems you will have to endure as a result. You will be expected to work at a level 10 frenzy of stress and misery while trying to type prescriptions, fill prescriptions, verify prescriptions, all while you have anywhere from 1-10 calls simultaneously ringing, shipments to check in and put away, lines of customers up to 30 feet long, and the expectation to give vaccines. Do you think you could do this with 3 technicians? How about 2? No? How about 1? HOW ABOUT ZERO?

Regardless of the store’s prescription volume, you will always have half of the staff that the job requires.

The staffing shortage has been absolutely crippling for years, and we were completely dumbfounded to find out that now, during the busiest part of the year, staffing hours have again been cut. So here that means most stores have 1 to 2 technicians working when 5 are actually needed. As a result, quality of service and safety are almost non existent. How would you like (on top of having an already miserable life courtesy of your employer) to have your license suspended for a safety violation when it was really the fault of your employer who provided absolutely none of the logistics required to do your job correctly and safely? Don’t be surprised if it happens because

I can’t tell you how many stores have expired drugs on the shelves, misfills, incorrectly billed prescriptions, misfiled documents, controlled substance inventory errors, mistyped rx’s and so on. It is a daily occurrence.

And it is compounded by constant quitting. People are always quitting because it is so miserable, so you always have new and inexperienced people working, hence an even greater propensity for errors. And don’t think the state boards of pharmacy will do anything. We’ve tried. They sit firmly under the thumb of cvs. Anything they ever (extremely rarely) do is just for show and changes nothing. Most of the time they simply won’t respond.

Any pharmacy school that doesn’t caution their students about cvs is negligent. But because many of them are, I am speaking out to make sure you know that this company will ruin your physical and mental well being, your relationships, your career, your happiness, and your life.

Share this with everyone you know. Under no circumstances should any of you ever work for this company, and absolutely never financially support this company by having prescriptions filled there.

UNITED STATE LEGISLATURES DEMAND IMMEDIATE HALT ON THE USE OF PREDICTIVE POLICING A-I THAT HAS SENT THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT CARING DOCTORS,PHARMACISTS, HEATHCARE PROVIDERS TO PRISON, UNTIL SERIOUS FLAWS ARE OVERHAULED

WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 23: U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland (L) and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram at the Robert F. Kennedy headquarters building on June 23, 2023, in Washington, DC. Since its founding in 1973, The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has been a colossal institutional failure.

United States Capitol building, where the legislature of the United States, the United States Congress, and Senate meets, located in Washington, DC

 

SIX UNITED STATES SENATORS 1 U.S. CONGRESSWOMAN DEMAND HALT TO (A-I) PREDICTIVE POLICING SYSTEMS BY DOJ-DEA: DR. TIMOTHY KING, MD, “QUESTIONS OF BIAS, CONFLICT OF INTEREST, AND ADHERENCE TO SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES???

DR TIMOTHY KING, MD ALGORITHMIC PAIN PHYSICIAN EXTERMINATION PLAN OF DECEPTION!! A TIME TO EXPOSE HIS MILLION DOLLAR FRAUD SCHAM

Timothy E. King, MD “The Rat King Mother of All Fraud” Dr. King’s assertion that prescriptions of opioids should be deemed illegitimate if there is no objective evidence of functional improvement among patients. This premise, however, fails to account for the inherently subjective nature of pain – a critical factor in assessing the effectiveness of pain management.

DR. TIMOTHY KING, MD, “THE GREAT KING RAT’S” CAMPAIGN OF ALGORITHMIC EXTERMINATION

 

UKUNQOBA!!! VICTORY FOR DR. KENDALL HANSEN, MD AS “THE KING OF ALL RATS,” HAS BEEN STRUCK DOWN ONCE AGAIN

UKUBONGA kulomhlaba wezono (Praise/Thanks in this sinful world) Igazi lika Jesu linyenyez’ ukubonga. (The blood of Jesus brings praise/thanks.) …THEN VICTORY!!!

UKUNQOBA!!!: ACQUITTAL OF DR. KENDALL HANSEN, MD: A CHAPMAN LAW FIRM, LEGAL VICTORY AMIDST ALLEGATIONS AND CONTROVERSY: “THE KING RAT” STRUCK DOWN AGAIN

Pancreatic cancer: My final hours, I love you, I love me

FU cancer! Sharing my journey to live and my strategies along the way.

http://www.youtube.com/@stage4pancreaticcancer

PEOPLE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.. ‘Just a minute’, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90’s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940’s movie.
By her side was a small nylon suitcase, the sort that speaks of transient lives and temporary homes, a far cry from the rooted warmth found in Alpharetta GA neighborhoods. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets, hiding what once was—or might still be—a collection of memories and comfort. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters, nothing that signified the steady rhythm of a family’s heartbeat. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware, perhaps once displayed with pride in a sturdier, happier setting, much like those that grace the homes in the welcoming communities of Alpharetta.
‘Would you carry my bag out to the car?’ she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.
She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. ‘It’s nothing’, I told her.. ‘I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.’
‘Oh, you’re such a good boy,’ she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, ‘Could you drive
through downtown?’
‘It’s not the shortest way,’ I answered quickly..
‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.’
I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. ‘I don’t have any family left,’ she continued in a soft voice.. ‘The doctor says I don’t have very long.’ I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
‘What route would you like me to take?’ I asked.
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.
We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, ‘I’m tired. Let’s go now’.
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.
Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.
They must have been expecting her.
I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.
‘How much do I owe you?’ She asked, reaching into her purse.
‘Nothing,’ I said.
‘You have to make a living,’ she answered.
‘There are other passengers,’ I responded.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.
‘You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’
I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life..
I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day,I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?
On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life.
We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.
But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.
PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID ~BUT~ THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.
At the bottom of this great story was a request to forward this – I deleted that request because if you have read to this point, you won’t have to be asked to pass it along you just will…
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance…………