At the PTN F2F last weekend I told a story about our neighbor and friend 
Alfredo Cortez whom I got involved in doing restoration work at a 1930's 
art deco theater owned by another friend of mine. Alfredo is the father 
of David's best friend, our favorite Marine Zeek who is into his third 
tour of service and is now going to school in Colorado.

Before going to the F2F David and I had heard that Alfredo had a seizure 
and was run back to the hospital. We  thought it odd that he would get a 
seizure from a hernia operation. That was all the detail that we had.

I asked David why he thought Freddie was so excited about working at the 
theater. He was really getting into rebuilding the water-damaged oak 
doors. Our conclusion was to the effect that he had never had anyone to 
work for that appreciated what he could do to the best of his ability. I 
suppose we never thought that there would be anything less. At the F2F I 
held Freddie up as the kind of guy, the guy behind our own back yard 
that we did not have to go look to far to find, that would go gaga at an 
IPTW.

On returning from the F2F I quickly found out that Alfredo had liver 
failure, kidney failure, a cardiac incident over the weekend, was 
comatose and sedated and had come down with pneumonia. What I never knew 
was that Freddie was a chronic closet alcoholic. I do not recall ever to 
see him take a drink, not even a casual beer.

Zeek, only next of kin (seems Alfredo had divorced his wife Lorraine 
yada yada during a not-so-distant oat sowing escapade) had to fly back 
from Colorado to sign non-resusitate papers. As of this morning Alfredo 
was scheduled to be removed from life support.

He was a friend, a neighbor, and we were working with him to realize his 
dreams of his trade as a carpenter.

Lorraine told me that someone had placed a ticket on Alfredo's hospital 
bed that said that the bed needed to be repaired because it made 
"inappropriate noises at inconvenient times." She told Freddie that he 
had to fix his own goddamned bed. She said that he smiled -- that was 
when I found out that he was not conscious and on a breathing tube. She 
told me that she wanted to sneak a hammer into the hospital because she 
felt if he was holding a hammer he would fight to get better. Zeek 
related to me that he had told his father that I would be expecting an 
excuse letter from the Doctor for sluffing off work. Zeek said that his 
father squeezed his hand in response.

When Zeek was working with his father over the Xmas Holidays the two of 
them had heart-to-heart talks on their drive to and from the theater. 
Alfredo was advising Zeek that if anything happened from the hernia 
operation what he wished to have happen. Zeek took it then as talk. 
Alfredo asked for no pain, no lingering, no suffering and cremation. He 
also asked that a box be made of poplar, oak, mahogany, maple, birch and 
pine to hold his urn. Last night David went with Zeek to go get the wood 
so that Zeek can build the box. Lorraine gets to keep the box with the urn.

When I was over at the house Lorraine was complaining that Freddie 
always left something undone. She showed me a cabinet that he had built 
years ago that last week he put knobs on. She showed me an area of tile 
that he never grouted. He also left undone the theater lobby work. As 
things settle out I know that I will have something to think about. We 
worry about Lorraine. She is nearly the oddest person that I have ever 
known and we care for her.

The last thing that Alfredo said to me, "When I get back from the 
operation during the recuperation I don't want to talk to anybody for a 
real long time. You know what I mean?" Here I figured he just wanted to 
be left in peace.

][<en

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