Return to Laguna Honda Hospital

I realized that I have not been giving my account of the last few times that I have visited Laguna Honda Hospital. So here goes.

I saw my resident again on Friday. He was sitting in the lobby in Claredon Hall playing black jack or whatever game was on the computer in front of him. He was busy jabbing the screen or rather drawing his finger horizontally across to select his hand of cards. The screen would spit out some points for him and he would start the whole process over again. The same San Francisco Giants beanie covered his forehead and the same Harley Davidson jacket covered his shoulders. When I approached him, he introduced himself as if I was a fresh face and I immediately confirmed my suspicions that he had dimentia. He was friendly nonetheless and retold his story with a few more details to fill in the gaps from last time.

This time he talked more candidly about his family, the beginning, and end of it all. Painting an image of powdered mountain ranges, hot fireplaces, and rooftop icicles of Colorado springs, he spoke about where he raised his 2 daughters, Barbara and Denise. Chloe wanted him to stop associating with his racing buddies whom she considered a distraction from his role as a father and his dedication to developing a career. He never really made a decision one way or another.

It is funny how easily a rope falls apart after the knot at the end comes loose.

It was not until they graduated from high school, did he split up with his wife Chloe. He moved to San Francisco, Sunset specifically, only 2 blocks away from my current apartment. Then came the heroine. Cocaine. The old drown your sorrows in whatever substance you can get your hands on. He mostly veered away from talking about his ex-wife very much. But he was more than willing to offer information about his daughter Barbara whom lives in Riverside currently. The smart one, he pointed out, who took community college classes after high school then took a job as a claims officer in a real estate insurance company. I imagined a Nancy Drew holding a larger than life magnifying glass up to typewritten font on documents nearly bleeding with accounts of fraud or extortion.

As I pulled myself back into the moment, I listened to updates on Denise. She started waitressing after high school and apparently moved to New Orleans where she waitresses at an upscale restaurant. He kept affirming how different they were when you juxtaposed them, a common thought wheezing past the daily thoughts of parents. Barbara was silent as a mouse but not in a way that made you uncomfortable, just that she used far less words to convey what she wanted to say. Denise, on the other hand, was always very witty and talked up a storm whenever she had the chance. He was glad that they came to visit him just last week and spent every day visiting him that week. I told him that was excellent. He nodded in agreement. I assumed that they were able to work past his recent fallout with alcohol.