our more sensitive readers might not want to read this... it's not pretty.

You know, through everything with paul, his heart problems, being sick, etc... It never occured to me that anybody I knew could die.

saturday evening, a neighbor of mine was trying to knock down a rotting shed in his backyard, standing inside and whacking at the sheet metal siding. He didn't realize that the sheet metal was all that was holding the building up... he hit the wrong piece and the entire thing came crashing down on him. We weren't home at the time, we were out grocery shopping... but Paul's dad reported that when the emts pulled A. out from under the wreckage, he was covered in blood... at the time that's all we knew... that and that the medivac helicopter landed in the nearest cleared area, my friend G's yard. they took him by ambulance to where the helicopter was, and G. was standing outside watching.. they decided that it was too dangerous to move him from the ambulance to the helicopter.... G reported that he had a rather large shard of wood through the chest and every time he breathed, the chest wound bubbled and he coughed blood.

Paul got a phone call about an hour later from a mutual friend, who reported that A. didn't make it. We tried phoning the hospital, but of course, with the privacy regulations, they couldn't even tell us that much. So right now, we're sitting here wondering whether a friend is dead or not, suspecting that he is, and nobody can tell us anything.... and all of a sudden it hits me. Nobody I know all that well has ever died... it really brings out a sense of your OWN mortality, you know?

And this guy... He's been in motorcycle wrecks at over 100 MPH at least three times... gotten up, kicked his bike, thrown his helmet, and walked off cussing up a storm. And a bloody shed fallng on him does him in?! The universe has an odd sense of humor.

This whole thing... makes a lot of things seem a lot less important all of a sudden... and a lot of things seem MORE important, too. cherish your friends, your family, your loved ones. The stupidest things can take them from you.

I'll report in when we know more, probably tomorrow or monday.

There's also a lot of other stuff going on that makes me appreciate what I have so much more. P's mom left her husband, and she and her daughter were living in a battered womans' shelter halfway across the state... P and his uncle eventually convinced her to go live with the uncle(her brother) in georgia... the best that P's sister could hope for in the ghetto they were in, was to not get knocked up by a crackhead until she was 16, rather than 14. the area in georgia is nice, peaceful, upper middle class, and has good schools... well, they left this morning(saturday) to go to georgia, called P. for help navigating. he told them SEVERAL times. "DO NOT GET OFF THE INTERSTATE IN SLIDELL. IF YOU MUST STOP, STOP BEFORE, OR STOP AFTER. DO NOT GET OFF IN SLIDELL. YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO FIND YOUR WAY BACK TO THE INTERSTATE." well. they got off in slidell. they ate.. and left their only cell phone in the restaurant. his mom calls his uncle two hours later from bogalusa... you really have to try HARD to get lost enough to get there.... well, she's gone back for her phone, but... nobody's heard from her in several hours and she's not gotten there to pick up the phone. we think she's gotten lost somewhere along the north shore of lake ponchartrain... So that's why I'm still awake at 3:20 in the morning... waiting by the phone hoping somebody will call and let us know where she is.  Needless to say, tonight has not been a good night. I'm sorry for the long, depressing post... I just needed to talk to somebody and you guys are friends I can come to. *hugs each and every one of you* thanks for being here.

hugs to you,K!!  I do hope everything is ok.   Keep us posted!

((((Hugs)))   

So sorry dear  *hugs*

Thanks, gals. We still haven't recieved word as to when the wake and funeral will be... I gather the family's not decided anything yet. From what I heard, they're awaiting the results of the autopsy first.  I'm not sure if they suspect that it might not have been entirely accidental, or just what's going on. I mean, A. had more common sense than that... I just don't know. I only met him a few times, but he was a pretty darn cool guy.