I suspected something horrible happened when I didn't hear from her in over a year. But, suspecting, and knowing are two different things. Although, I have many fond memories of Dame, as I am sure you all do too. One is (and I can still hear her inflection as she says it), no one said (spoke) the words "mutha fucka" like she did, and no one ever will.
Over the years we became such good friends, I wanted to thank her for just existing. So I sent her a care package, it had a bag of chocolates, a ring made out of a $5 bill, a deck of cards, and both of my books autographed. There was a mix up in the delivery to the hotel they were staying at, at the time, and UPS delivered it to her previous address. Well, Dame was like.. it's mine, I am going to go get it, and sure as shit, it was sitting on the front porch of her previous home address and she got it. Now, she admitted to buying vodka with the 5 bucks, but, Marta, (her lady she was a caregiver for) had told me that Dama cherished those books more than anything (well, besides her boys). And, although it wasn't written to or for her, one writing (see below) of mine always makes me think of her, cause she liked to give me shit about "complex" and "aspects" not rhyming. I am not posting links, though, this is not a promotional thread. This is a few of my memories with her, and I hope you post yours here too, in her honor.
And somehow I think, from reading the note her brother's wrote, that we, as the group of PokerOwned, helped complete her Rubik's Cube, somehow.
"Peopleł"
A person can be like a Rubik's Cube,
simple in form, yet so complex.
With many sides, and colors,
in all of their aspects.
Sometimes they may appear complete,
no matter which side you view.
But, with a few little twists and turns,
everything becomes all askew.
When that piece goes here, and this one goes there,
it looks like a disaster.
Then everyone tries to fix it,
competing to see who can do it faster.
Someone may help to fix one side,
but, that's just temporary.
It has to be undone again,
I know, that seems contrary.
But, to complete the "whole",
one must shift this piece or that.
The trick is to remember,
exactly where the pieces are at.
It may look all messed up right now,
with all the colors in disarray.
But the complete person's still in there,
they haven't really gone away.
Eventually it can be resolved,
if you set your own mind to it.
Although the odds are astronomical,
be confident you can do it.
Just like any other puzzle,
there's a solution to be found.
All I know is I'm so glad,
a Rubik's Cube isn't round!
© September 27, 2014
