Weddings, Friends, Theft, and The ER.

In true Kit form, I unwittingly set myself up for the best and worst weekend of the year thus far. I attended a friend's wedding in NYC this past weekend. What a fabulous event. Everything, was so perfect and expensive. I mean all of the guests were so busy trying to figure out how much the wedding cost that we almost missed the ice sculpture of the bride and groom's initials in the corner behind the wedding party's table at the reception. Talk about class, pomp, and circumstance. It was one of the nicest weddings I have been to, ever. The food was delicious, which is never the case at weddings, and for a BT wedding we had a whole lot of fun dancing at the reception. Theirs was a beautiful story of love, and it was the perfect event to celebrate their new life. I was so happy to see all of my friends that I had left in the city, and see how our lives and changed. We were adults, and thankfully, it was not as scary as any of us thought. PhD's, Babies, Marriages, New Jobs, Deaths, Weight Loss, and Depression. Everyone had a story to tell, and we had a great time laughing and catching up. For a few hours, we suspended ourselves from the mire of real life, and just enjoyed the wedding cocoon. It was wonderful.

So that evening, I came back to my old place in my favorite borough, and I just looked through the wedding pictures and smiled. I laughed at how fat I thought I looked. I found it simply ironic the amount of compliments I got that day. I was so self concious and fidgety most of the day. But as looked at the pictures, I could not help but laugh at the great time that we had just a few hours earlier. I told my best friend all about it, recounting all of the wedding idiosynchrasies. She laughed with me at all of the old characters of my life's story, and how we were turning over a new chapter.

I went to sleep that night and I was determined to not give up on anything I was thinking about having or accomplishing in life. I dwelled for a long moment on the fact that life was a series of choices and decisions that I was free to make. As much as I believed in a Supreme Intelligence, I believed that I was steering my life, and I had better make some good decisions. I had better choose to be happy, despite my religious or spiritual convictions.

I closed my eyes and drifted into a fitful dreamfilled sleep. My mind was obviously calculating what the cost of happiness would be.

I wake up the next day, still high from wedding bliss. I decide that I don't want to be in the house on this beautiful Easter Sunday and that I would visit my old church here in the city. I get dressed. I was kind of excited. I would get to see some of my friends again. I walk down the block, and unlock the car with the remote. As I look up to see if the car is still there, as I always do, I experienced a moment of disorientation.

Boy, Dante looks different today...

Dante had a black eye.

What the F@%&! Someone busted my car window!

Now I didn't mean to think a curse word, but this is what came to mind immediately. I wasn't really mad, I went to see what they took. An iPod. They busted my window for an i-freaking-Pod. How ridiculous. They could have left me a note for that old-ass iPod! I would have hunted them down to give it to them. The man on the step said a few words to me I can vaguely recall. Something along the lines of, 'Oh that's your car?' Yes. My car. My Dante.

I called the police, and they were there quick. This is a bit unusual in the city. They even had a pre recorded message for me after I called 911 to tell me that someone may not get there for a while. But they came straight away. Six of them. Way too many cops to fill out a incident report. I laughed at them several times. They had to call the sergeant just to figure out what questions to ask me about the incident. They looked way more confused than I did.

I sat in the back seat of my car and pretended to call the insurance company so that I could have a moment to think. What was happening here? I looked over the seat at all the glass and I felt a twinge of pain in my chest. Jerks. Assholes. Idiots. Losers. Crackheads. All for a stupid iPod.

Then somehow I began to think it was my fault. I was seriously considering what I could have done to make this better. I began feeling guilty. I began to believe that somehow, I had brought this on myself. Then I snapped out of it. What was I talking about! This was Brooklyn.

So I get it together, and clean enough class off of the seat, and clear the class out of the frame, so that I can drive the car to a parking garage. Everything was going to be fine. Safelite Glass Co. was coming in the morning, and I was on my way to church. Nothing was going to stop me.

As I pull into the parking Garage, let my mind slip for a second back to the fact that I was the victim of a burgulary. I felt a tear coming. I breathed deep and opened my eyes as wide as I could hoping that the air would dry up the the tears. It worked.

The parking attendant came to the window, and I asked him if I could park the car with a broken window. He said sure, as long as I signed for it. He left to get a ticket.

I put the car in park, and I reached into the back seat to throw the things that were there into the rear part of the car. Those stupid thieves. The shoes sitting in the back seat were worth more than that 4 year old iPod. Dummies. I threw the first shoe into the back.

As a reached back again to throw the second shoe over the backseat, I felt my arm do something weird. In the next flash, extreme pain bounded down my right arm. Within seconds, I was incapacitated. My shoulder was dislocated and I could barely move. Every slight movement sent firey lightning bolts of discomfort searing through my arm. Even when I moved the other arm, my whole right side exploded. I could barely reach the phone to call 911.

At that moment the parking garage attendant came up to my window. He stared at me cautiously. I made a quick grab for the phone, and dialed 911. I told the operator that i needed help and that i had dislocated my arm, and she was so soothing. I told the attendant that I needed an address. He he told me he didn't know the address. I tried to explain where I was to the 911 operator. She couldn't figure out where I was. Deliriously, I screamed to the attendant, 'I NEED AN ADDRESS NOW! LIKE RIGHT NOW!' He jumped and scampered off. The operator told me that they would try to find me with the information I had given them.

After what seemed like an eternity. I called my mom. I tried to talk, but everything hurt. I hung on her. I tried to call my old roommate, to tell her where I was. I could barely dial the numbers.

Finally an EMT appeared at my driver's side window, with celestial glow illuminating his dark uniform. 'WHOA...' he looked at the broken window. 'What happened here?' Through my tears, I to explain everything. I could barely hold my head up to look at him. I felt so delimited and debilitated.

They got me out of the car. They got me onto a stretcher. I howled for about 5 minutes. They put me in the ambulance. They bumped all the way to the hospital. I howled all the way there.

Once in the hospital, of course, I was not seen for two hours. Finally an intern came in and examined me. She told me my arm was cold and that my fingers were turning blue. She wanted me to rate my pain on a level of one to ten. I wouldn't give her a number, I just kept repeating that I could not move my arm. I could not move my arm. I could not move my arm.

She left my little hospital cubby.

My back was beginning to hurt ridiculously. I was so afraid to sit up. My arm was dictating every movement. I sat up slowly, wimpering as the pain shot through my arm....then....SNAP.

The pain decreased. My arm started to warm up. 'All I had to so was sit up?' I thought to myself. I swung my legs out of the bed, and walked to the nurses station. I begged to go home. She sent me to the Dr.

'I think it went back in. I just wanna go home! You guys are great, but I hate emergency rooms!' I sniffled a bit.

' Oh honey I know! I hate emergency rooms too, and I work here!' The other Dr's around her laughed.

She sent me back to my bed upset. I called my friend Nana, and I complained to her about how they were keeping me hostage in the hospital. I wanted to leave. The truth was I felt so alone, and I had no one there with me. I watched all of the other folks with their loved ones there with them on Easter Sunday bringing them food and hanging out with them, and I felt extremely sad. Nana offered to come see me and bring me food. I was so thankful for her offer.

After nearly fainting in the ex ray room and being brought back to my cubby in a wheel chair (percoset is no joke), I became light headed and free. I imagined that my friend Nana was also an ethereal being, who had floated into my hospital cubby. She smiled her beautiful smile, and laughed at the sight of me in the wheel chair. We ate An Easter Dinner of Japanese Food- Tofu Teryaki, Eel Avocado Roll, Edemame, and Miso Soup. I was so content. And doped up.

This is the appropriate place to write that, even though I repeatedly think that I am alone, and become fearful of that, I am constantly reminded that alone really is a state of mind. I gotta learn how to control that state of mind.


I went back to my old home in Brooklyn and told my former roommate, my best friend, and my mom all about the day. The weekend went from Fairytale to Nightmare in the span of 24 hours. I could not have dreamed that sequence. Thank God for my Nana.