I wrote recently about trying to locate a retiree I had become acquainted with on my morning walks, John and his little tyke, Tyler, a shih tsu (tzu?) He had to move because his son moved out to go to school at a maritime institute in Stuart and John couldn’t afford the rent without him. He junked most of his furniture, and stuffed his truck with the rest and took off early one morning with his best friend, Tyler.

After quizzing his neighbors I managed to get E mail, and cell phone numbers for both John and his son. John’s cell no. took messages but he wasn’t answering. I E mailed him with no response. I finally left a message on the son’s cell and one morning, finally, John phoned on a borrowed cell phone (the battery was dead on his and his charger was buried in the truck) from a hospital in Dothan, Alabama. How the hell did he get there, light years away from Stuart? John had a bad leg and a staph infection had set in and there he was. It’s probably just as well that the involved leg is mostly metal, else the infection might have invaded the bone. He had indeed gone to Stuart but was reluctant to find a place to rent there because his son has got a good job offer and won’t be there too long so why put down roots if you will be moving again?

So he decided to visit an old friend in Alabama and the leg got bad, due to his working so hard moving furniture, and he had to go to the hospital. Meanwhile, Tyler, is staying with this Alabama friend and is woebegone, so every day the friend takes Tyler to John’s truck that is parked there and after Tyler sits in the truck, he feels better and is okay till the next day. John thinks sitting in the truck reassures him that John will come back.

John also said he must come back to this area to take care of some unfinished business so I told him he could stay with us. Ed is okay with that, even though he doesn’t know him very well, if it is not too long a visit and because he loves Tyler. I said the cats would have a learning experience . John tells me Tyler loves cats.

Meanwhile I am relieved that John’s son, Scott, will be taking care of his dad with funds from a really good, new job. I had been sitting here wondering how to get John on Medicaid. Ed had grumbled that I was adopting him. And I had said, so?

xx, Teal