Maybe it's because of Anicee's death that I just discovered, maybe it's just the Halloween Day of the Dead trip, but I found myself this morning remembering what it was like about 12 years ago to stand in front of the coffin of Davida. Davida was a girl I knew in high school, she and her mom had a country western singing cowgirl act going, which was pretty bizarre even then. Anyhow I was crazy about her and only made it to 1st base once ( got thrown out trying to steal second..).
I recall standing looking down at her as she lay dead, her children crying, noticing how large she had become, and all I could think about was that one night in the backseat of my car...and how red her lips were and the shine of her eyes...and here she lay dead. It is a weird fucking experience to see a dead body that used to be someone you were in love with, and made out with. I hate death, I hate the silly preoccupation folks have with "scary" bullshit. I've seen enough dead people for real.In EMS here we don't like to say DOA very much..I'm not sure why..but we use DRT (Dead Right There) a lot. Which reminds me of a sick, but true, EMS story. We ran a working code one night when an elderly woman came out of the family loo, and hit the floor of the family room DRT. We of course have to try to resuscitate, so we have a full assignment there; Medic crew, BLS Crew as 1st Responder, and Truck Crew for manpower. We have Grand Ma Ma on the floor, and one of the medics who was a new girl, meant to ask for the french catheter for Granny's airway. Instead ( maybe because she was nervous ), she asked for the French Tickler. So here we all are, doing CPR, trying like hell not to laugh while the family is in the other room freaking out over the dead Grand Ma Ma on the carpet and all the assholes from the Fire Department trying not to look at each other so we don't crack up. Later when we got to the hospital, we checked the info one of the truck guys got from the family. He had written exactly what the family told him in response to the question: Who is that in the other room? The name on the card he filled out was: Grand Ma. We had to write her up as Grand Ma Doe. And when the family showed up asking where is Mrs. such and so, of course the hospital had no idea what room the body was in. It all eventually got sorted out, and there really are a lot worse ways to go than suddenly, at home, surrounded by loved ones.
I recall standing looking down at her as she lay dead, her children crying, noticing how large she had become, and all I could think about was that one night in the backseat of my car...and how red her lips were and the shine of her eyes...and here she lay dead. It is a weird fucking experience to see a dead body that used to be someone you were in love with, and made out with. I hate death, I hate the silly preoccupation folks have with "scary" bullshit. I've seen enough dead people for real.In EMS here we don't like to say DOA very much..I'm not sure why..but we use DRT (Dead Right There) a lot. Which reminds me of a sick, but true, EMS story. We ran a working code one night when an elderly woman came out of the family loo, and hit the floor of the family room DRT. We of course have to try to resuscitate, so we have a full assignment there; Medic crew, BLS Crew as 1st Responder, and Truck Crew for manpower. We have Grand Ma Ma on the floor, and one of the medics who was a new girl, meant to ask for the french catheter for Granny's airway. Instead ( maybe because she was nervous ), she asked for the French Tickler. So here we all are, doing CPR, trying like hell not to laugh while the family is in the other room freaking out over the dead Grand Ma Ma on the carpet and all the assholes from the Fire Department trying not to look at each other so we don't crack up. Later when we got to the hospital, we checked the info one of the truck guys got from the family. He had written exactly what the family told him in response to the question: Who is that in the other room? The name on the card he filled out was: Grand Ma. We had to write her up as Grand Ma Doe. And when the family showed up asking where is Mrs. such and so, of course the hospital had no idea what room the body was in. It all eventually got sorted out, and there really are a lot worse ways to go than suddenly, at home, surrounded by loved ones.
Still, I hate death.. and sometimes I miss Davida.
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