GND looks worried.
"I'm not looking for a woman with hair on her chest!" he states, for the record.
I'm holding my chest with one hand and the cup of tar he's offered me in the other, gasping. I was once a black coffee drinker. Liked my roast rich and full bodied. Liked it Turkish strong and jet black. Not anymore, though. Not now that I'm older. These days I like thing less harsh, and more sweet. His coffee is neither and a single sip had just seared my innards from my mouth to my stomach. His coffee could put hair on my chest, as the old adage goes, and I had just told him so.
I choose to not comment on the looking- for-a-woman comment, because he's called me over to discuss the results of his doctor's appointment and I knew he was eager to share the news that had him nervous.
"I wasn't completely honest with you the other night," he begins.
"I'm not looking for a woman with hair on her chest!" he states, for the record.
I'm holding my chest with one hand and the cup of tar he's offered me in the other, gasping. I was once a black coffee drinker. Liked my roast rich and full bodied. Liked it Turkish strong and jet black. Not anymore, though. Not now that I'm older. These days I like thing less harsh, and more sweet. His coffee is neither and a single sip had just seared my innards from my mouth to my stomach. His coffee could put hair on my chest, as the old adage goes, and I had just told him so.
I choose to not comment on the looking- for-a-woman comment, because he's called me over to discuss the results of his doctor's appointment and I knew he was eager to share the news that had him nervous.
"I wasn't completely honest with you the other night," he begins.
I raise my eyebrows. I know he's not honest, but I
guess he's not picked up on that bit yet. He's got to be close though because
he now calls me Vaquera on account of
having heard my repeated mantra, 'Not my first rodeo.'
After he finishes telling me what the issue is, I am silent. I ask a few questions to understand more clearly. I am silent again.
There is nothing to be said. We are aging and deterioration is expected. He knows what he needs to do to get his health back on track, and it's solely up to him to do it. I have nothing to offer. He's telling me it's no big deal, but I don't believe him. I know he's just trying to work through his fears. And he will. He always does. Eventually.
I'm holding my gut that's been tearing me apart for the last few months, but am not about to divulge that particular ailment to him. He'll think I'm dying, too. From these earthbound parasites he's so afraid of. The dreaded naegleria fowleri, a thermophilic ameba found in the soil-- and waters-- throughout the southern-tier states. Including pools and hot tubs.
I think it's best if I refrain from telling my pool buddy that part, too.
After he finishes telling me what the issue is, I am silent. I ask a few questions to understand more clearly. I am silent again.
There is nothing to be said. We are aging and deterioration is expected. He knows what he needs to do to get his health back on track, and it's solely up to him to do it. I have nothing to offer. He's telling me it's no big deal, but I don't believe him. I know he's just trying to work through his fears. And he will. He always does. Eventually.
I'm holding my gut that's been tearing me apart for the last few months, but am not about to divulge that particular ailment to him. He'll think I'm dying, too. From these earthbound parasites he's so afraid of. The dreaded naegleria fowleri, a thermophilic ameba found in the soil-- and waters-- throughout the southern-tier states. Including pools and hot tubs.
I think it's best if I refrain from telling my pool buddy that part, too.
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