AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT

So as luck would have it, I had an appointment scheduled with my doctor for this morning. I haven't been sleeping very well (gosh, wonder why... .) and there were a couple of other things that have been bothering me, I'm off my feed and my regularness has not been.

ANYway, I am prattling along, watching him write down my blood pressure 120/74 (Yes! I am 25 years old!) when he asked me if anything else was going on in my life.

I cratered into mush before his eyes.About a half a box of tissues later:I told him the story of this coming Monday. (Maybe that should be the title of something- This Coming Monday- ?)

Gabe, that's my doctor. You should always have a doctor whom you can call by his nickname. Gabe asked me if I had a support system. Someone I could talk to or get some friendly advice from or just ears to listen.

"Oh yeah", I said, "there's a bunch of people: there's Ossobucco."

"Oh?", he said, "like the entree?"

"Yeah, I said, "and this ex-rocker, Bear, who is also the blue-veined throbber and Drewdad and Freeduck and a guy named Nimh. "

"Like the National Institutes of Mental Health?" Gabe asked as he wrote 'some delusions ... imaginary friends.....?'"

"No, well, yes, but Nimh's name is just a coincidence. Did I mention Pheonix?"

"The city of Pheonix is your friend?"

"No, she a nice person who lives in Florida with the alligators, there's also Gus who says he lives with capybaras, but I don't think that's really so. Can I have another Kleenex?"

"Who else?" said the doctor I have known for a dozen years as he moved just a little out of my reach."

"LittleK and Kickycan"

"Rappers of some sort?" he asked."

"UM, no, I don't think so. Oh yeah, dlowan who is a bunny in Australia but not the Hefner kind. And Roberta and Eva and lots more."

"Why don't you lie down here for a moment while I go check on something."

"Oh, oh, there's Dagmar who's LittleK's friend and a boxer!"

The door shut.I lay there a long time it seemed. Tissues from doctor's offices do not have the same staying power of regular tissues. I guessed I should have mentioned that my brothers and sisters live nearby and my four oldest friends in the world have been in contact these last few days, but I thought Gabe should know that I'm in touch with the very best people in the world.

Thanks, everyone.

Joe(the very best) Nation