My friend Don Amici Thomas and I had an odd friendship.
When I moved into my niece's basement in Mableton, 2009, they were
Already in their house, next one over. I didn't get to know neither he nor his wife Pat for a year or so, and then because we were in different orbits, and I was scrambling to make a dollar so I could get out of the basement, I didn't REALLY begin to know him until about 2016, when I moved OUT of the basement and into a subsidized apartment.
Don had serious health issues, Hep C had destroyed his liver, which lead to kidney failure, which meant dialysis 3x a week.
His wife was trying to keep up with everything and still work.
She asked me if I would provide transportation to and from dialysis.
I agreed, but I tried to make her understand that I didn't want this to be an ongoing thing.
There were times at first, when I was already wound up over something, I'd pick him up from his treatments (it was only a couple of miles to their home), and a couple of times we got so mad with one another that he told me to stop and he'd walk.
I did that once.
Went down the road about ¼ mi, then thought "My GOD, you're a CNA for god's sake! That man has just had all his blood run out of his body, filtered then put back. I can't leave him walking on the side of the road and turned around.
He was sitting down on the curb with his head in his hands.
Other times he'd want to get something to eat after his treatment, but would throw it up.
They got his regimen figured out to where he was not so sick so often.
I had a love affair with their dog Mimi, but a couple of years ago they got Sheba
Who would let NO ONE pet her. She would climb all over him in his chair, and SOMETIMES he would pet her.
Strange Dog.
I caught her pooping once, right after this she turned (still doing her business) and looked back at me as if to say "PLEASE don't put that on FB" 😈
Well, I found out this morning, just a little while ago in fact, that my friend Don had been in the hospital for a couple of weeks (No Covid, his wife took pains to say) but he had come home yesterday as was doing well.
Less than an hour later, he was in total arrest, and could not be revived.
Don Amici Thomas
Died today
11/22/2020
by
Jerry E Smith
All images are original.
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