Entry Four

Present

Our camping trip was cut short due rain and cold weather. Our new “waterproof” tent wasn’t waterproof after all. The seal on one of the side windows leaked, plus there was a lot of condensation dripping down from the roof of the tent. We woke up soaked to the bone and cold as hell. In fact, he woke at about 4 in the morning to make some coffee and try to warm up a bit. We didn’t even bother to officially pack up, just threw everything in the back of the car and took off. We spent all of Saturday, in our apartment, washing, drying and packing up all the camping gear for next year. At least we got in one last campfire on Friday night.

He gave me a necklace for our anniversary when we came back Saturday. A carved rose pendant made of wood on a chain of turquoise and amber colored stone beads. He saw me covet it at a fiber art school & gallery we visited on Washington Island during our vacation. I married a very good man.

Past

My mother met Lorenzo, Uncle Lo to us kids, at the NCO club one night when we were still living on the military base in New Mexico. They hit it off right away and quickly became best friends. My mother told everyone that Uncle Lo was the brother she never had.

Uncle Lo was a tough, black Army Sergeant with a love for getting high/drunk and young, white women. The man also had a horrible knack for getting into trouble. One night, while driving home from work, he crashed his van on one of the side roads near the base. Uncle Lo later admitted to losing control and flipping the van after attempting to eat a McDonald’s cheeseburger while listening to the Queen song, Another One Bites the Dust. The MP’s found the van but Lorenzo was no where in sight. The MP’s figured he may have been severely injured and somehow managed to crawl out into the desert. They immediately began to search the desert for his body. They were nice enough to call my mother to let her know what was going on. My mother became frantic and hysterical and had my father drive around the base for hours looking for any sign of Lo. My father eventually found Lorenzo at his girlfriend's house, watching TV and getting high. Lorenzo made it out of the crash relatively unscathed, just a few cuts and bruises. He somehow didn’t think anyone would make such a big deal out of him leaving his crashed van in the middle of the desert without a note or any indication as to where he was.

Another memorable incident involved him getting shot in the shoulder by one of this Army buddies while arguing over a football game. I don’t believe he ever told the MP’s who shot him and gave his buddy a good head start before calling an ambulance. I still have photos of him while he was in the hospital in Las Cruses (or was it El Paso?).

It was Uncle Lo who gave me my first shot of hard liquor at the tender age of seven. It was vodka and I still remember how good it felt going down my throat. How the warmth filled my body. I knew right then and there that I would have a close relationship to this drink when I got older. The look on Uncle Lo’s face when I chugged that shot down then asked for another (which I didn’t get), that was truly priceless.