By Al "The Fish" Goldstein.
I had a day free in Louisville between trips, so I came to visit Adrian and Diana for a day and a half. I expected a quiet time discussing old times and trying to offer support for our friend. How wrong I was. This place is action packed. Ade picked me up at the airport, and we drove home for a happy reunion with Diana and Mike. Robyn left 2 days ago for university. She went back early so she could teach the soccer referees that she supervises at the school. I think that's so cool. Diana asked whether we wanted her to cook chicken for us, and Adrian stood behind her and mouthed NO so she wouldn't see him, but that I would get the message. Ade, let me assure you, is in very fine form, and despite the horrendous battles of the past 2 years, he is as funny as ever. He told me afterwards that he prefers to eat out rather than savor Diana's cooking. We met up with Mike and his mate Kevin at the hamburger joint, and had a darn fine meal. We came home, and chatted until about 10pm I had flown through the night so I was very tired.
At about 1am, even though, I was wearing earplugs, and the room was dark from the blinds, I was woken by flashing lightning and booming thunder. I was exhausted, so I went back to sleep until 8 the next morning. Adrian and Diana didn't. Firstly, their mad dog Max was terrified of the storm outside, and he kept walking over Ade and Diana in their bed. He was panting and salivating and Adrian was trying not to become annoyed with the clearly afraid dog. Then at 1:30am, Mike sms'd to say that he was with his friends, and didn't want to come home in the storm. The plan for the next day however, was to take Mike off to move into his dorm at university. Adrian had Mike wait for the storm to subside, and when he sensed that it was over, Adrian sms'd Mike to "COME HOME NOW, and to be careful of the water from the storm." I slept though all of this.
I had a day free in Louisville between trips, so I came to visit Adrian and Diana for a day and a half. I expected a quiet time discussing old times and trying to offer support for our friend. How wrong I was. This place is action packed. Ade picked me up at the airport, and we drove home for a happy reunion with Diana and Mike. Robyn left 2 days ago for university. She went back early so she could teach the soccer referees that she supervises at the school. I think that's so cool. Diana asked whether we wanted her to cook chicken for us, and Adrian stood behind her and mouthed NO so she wouldn't see him, but that I would get the message. Ade, let me assure you, is in very fine form, and despite the horrendous battles of the past 2 years, he is as funny as ever. He told me afterwards that he prefers to eat out rather than savor Diana's cooking. We met up with Mike and his mate Kevin at the hamburger joint, and had a darn fine meal. We came home, and chatted until about 10pm I had flown through the night so I was very tired.
At about 1am, even though, I was wearing earplugs, and the room was dark from the blinds, I was woken by flashing lightning and booming thunder. I was exhausted, so I went back to sleep until 8 the next morning. Adrian and Diana didn't. Firstly, their mad dog Max was terrified of the storm outside, and he kept walking over Ade and Diana in their bed. He was panting and salivating and Adrian was trying not to become annoyed with the clearly afraid dog. Then at 1:30am, Mike sms'd to say that he was with his friends, and didn't want to come home in the storm. The plan for the next day however, was to take Mike off to move into his dorm at university. Adrian had Mike wait for the storm to subside, and when he sensed that it was over, Adrian sms'd Mike to "COME HOME NOW, and to be careful of the water from the storm." I slept though all of this.
At about 2:15am Ade received a frantic phone call from Mike to say that he had inadvertently driven his car into a huge puddle (stream) that stretched across the road, that the car had stalled mid-stream, and that the water was rising in the car. Ade told Mike to get out of the car. Ade then jumped out of bed, put on some jeans and a t-shirt and went tearing out of the house to help is son, not knowing where he was exactly and whether he was safe. They stayed on the phone together until Ade located, parked next to the fast moving stream, waded poopick (shtritzel) deep into the water, rescued and placated Mike. He brought him home, and then with Diana, went back to the river to call the police who he had called en route. The car was now being buffeted around in the river, so the policeman arranged the car to be towed away, and for the road to be closed. Ade came home and fell asleep at 3am. I slept through all of this.
At 4am, the police called to tell Diana where the car had been towed to. At 7:30am, Diana's tennis partner called to enquire whether Diana wanted to play tennis. She did not. I slept through all of this, but I woke up at 8am to see Adrian working at the computer. He told me about the night's activities by telling me that Mike had become the Suskins' first U-Boat commander. Then he told me to look outside. A eighty foot tree had come down in the storm (that I slept through,) and it fell on the tennis/sports court. The branches and trunk fell onto the fence around the court collapsing it like it was made of paper. The court is destroyed.
The day was a lot less eventful. We took Mike off to school when he woke up at 10am. He has a beautiful room with a very tall roommate. They came to university well equipped for study with a 27 inch flat screen TV, two of the latest video game systems, electric guitars and a nice refrigerator in the room. It ought to be a most productive year.
This evening, we sat eating dinner ( a delicious dinner that Diana cooked,) and they came to the cold realization that they are now empty nesters. They had a good giggle about it, and that's how this day has been. Some pretty heavy incidents and significant realizations, but Adrian and Diana deal with this with humour and gratitude. I have really enjoyed being with them today, and leave this evening happy in the knowledge that their love and humor is intact, and that through this, they will win this battle.
Carpe Diem.
