| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Destiny321 |
Posted - 03/03/2007 : 23:47:46
Chapter 1 The Man
There he was begging for food and money. He wore raggy clothes on and was frowning, you could just tell from his eyes that he has had a sad life. He had a frown on but his eyes looked gentle. He looked as if he was a septuagenarian, almost an octogenarian, maybe 77. He was from Cuba or from Mexico. He looked like his height was 5�8, but because of his weakness he looked more like 5�6. He looked very pale with weary shoulders and big ears. He looked quite familiar, but I couldn�t recall his face. Then it hit me like cold water being splashed on my face. I shuddered. It was the man that I had seen couple years back. His name was Marco. He used to work in a grocery store(that�s where I met him). I looked at him one more time and probably a couple more times hardly believing my eyes. I was thinking my eyes were playing tricks on me. I couldn�t believe myself it was hardly true to me. I was then still not sure it was him, but I had a thought to invite him to a cup of tea and cookies. I went up to him with a lot of courage, but still I was nervous. I invited him to in an outdoor caf�. He didn�t want to go but after a lot of insisting he finally agreed.
We were at the caf� and I had gotten the tea and cookies and we were just about to start. He gave me a soft smile as to say thank you.
He was eating slowly, but I knew he was hungry and didn�t eat for quite a while. He noticed me staring at him so he said,
� It was very nice of you to buy me some tea and cookies,� He was eating much more slower than before and started talking.
�Did you work in a grocery store?�, I asked.
�Si, I used to work in a very big grocery store,� He answered as he took another sip of his tea.
�You were in pretty good shape then what happened to you over those years,� I asked with curiosity.
And then he started telling me about what happened those couple of years that changed his life.
�I was working and getting enough money to live and give some to my wife and kids,� He said with a happy memory in his mind that you could tell by his voice.
�I loved my wife, but she left me after the incident,� He said.
�My wife used to live with him until the incident. He said,� I really wanted to ask what the incident, but I didn�t interrupt.
�My wife was a very good cook,� He went on with his wife being a good cook.
She left Marco because she loved money and liked the luxury of life which all her life she got it from Marco. She wanted money, and didn�t like it when her husband lent Bob money for his wedding. I really wanted to know what the incident was but I didn�t say anything because interrupting would be rude.
�My son, Roberto which we called Bob, was recently just married and he was a very good student,� Marco bragged about his son. �He respected me or that�s what I thought.� He looked down at his hands like he was ashamed of his son. But then he went on with on Bobs wedding day.
�Bob had an awesome wedding in a big church,� Marco said smiling. �My son�s wedding was very expensive and Bob couldn�t pay for it with his savings so I lent him some money which he didn�t return.
Marco had another son, named Miguel. He was very kind and did what ever Maria said.
� He was more to his mom than me,� said Marco. Miguel was a good student and he was very good at getting good grades and making his mom happy.
He then started talking about his daughter, Lopez. She was Marco�s lovely daughter. But she turned against him after the incident because of her family matters.
Her family matters were that her husband, Max didn�t like Lopez to pay attention to Marco, He didn�t want Lopez to not be involved in Marco�s life, but how could Lopez not be involved after all Lopez was Marco�s daughter. Max had agreed for Marco to stay in his house for a few days. Now I really wanted to ask about the incident but I bit my tongue and let him talk.
�Lopez married and has her own family and she�s very nice to me,� Marco said. �She went shopping with me and got new clothes with me and went to places with me and invited me over a lot of times.� But after the incident she did take care of him but not for long. He had to live in her house for a few days and then had to live in an apartment. Her daughter wanted to keep her dad with her and take care of him, but Max and her family came in the way and she moved away with her family. That left Marco to be very lonely. Now I asked about the incident and he told me, but not right away.
Chapter 2 The Incident
The incident was the saddest part of Marcos life and it changed his life, it was the turning point. This is how it all started. Bob had come over to see his parents with his wife and kids. He was very happy and cheerful they started talking about all sorts of things. They were all talking for a long time because it was finally a day off of Bob�s work and he came to spend it with his parents. They were talking about his childhood how he was naughty and Bob�s children listened to what naughty tricks their dad used to do. They were all laughing and having fun. When all of a sudden the topic about money came. Marco tried to avoid it because when ever money came up, Bob and Maria had an argument, but this time Marco and Maria weren�t doing well in financial income after he had gotten very old. So this time the subject could not drop. Bob and Maria started fighting. Bob started getting really angry that his parents were asking him to pay back what they spent on his wedding and got up from the couch, and slapped Maria, his Mom! This was very hard on Marco, his chest started hurting. He told Bob and Maria about the chest pain but no one paid any attention to him. They were too busy fighting.
Then Marco let out a little scream and his chest pain got worse. That�s when Bobs wife, Margo noticed Marco with him breathing very hard then she didn�t tell anyone anything and called an ambulance, when the ambulance came, Bob and Maria then noticed Marco almost dead.
The ambulance took him to the hospital directly, he had had a heart attack. The doctors right away did surgery on him. He had had a major heart attack and was about to die, and that�s when everyone started caring about him.
He was very sick but he felt better when one of his family members came to visit. They brought flowers and gifts. His daughter came to visit quite often. She came a lot of times but she had to work and take care of her family and she was studying. She didn�t have time at all for even herself and her family, so it was hard on her to come and stay.
Bob never came to visit Marco because he had work and he felt responsible for Marco�s heart attack, and he felt bad about slapping his mom in front of his kids . He was very ashamed. Then Bob�s wife came to visit and that she brought her kids along. She was very good in taking care of Marco. Marco was very happy for her to be there and bring along his grandkids.
He was recovering with the pump that pumped Marco�s heart and helped it work. His artery had closed completely and he was going to die but it opened back by the surgery. That�s how he had survived. His heart was working 30%, and he had a 30% chance of surviving after the surgery. He was surviving only on machines. When he was recovering, not a lot of people came to visit him, usually he was alone or watching T.V, which was very boring. He felt very lonely. Probably that was the time of his life that he had felt very lonely. Marco was going to be discharged.
Chapter 3 Finding a Place to Live
The biggest fear of Marco was yet to come. Marco didn�t know where he would go after he was discharged. He didn�t have any one visiting anymore. Maria went to live with Miguel. Then Marco�s daughter came to tell him that he could stay at his house for a few days.
Marco knew where he would stay after he was discharged but he would only be in Lopez house for a few days. Marco was very worried. There were only two more days until he was discharged.
Lopez came to pick up Marco the day he was discharged. Marco was ever grateful to Lopez for taking him in when no one would take care him but Lopez didn�t look very happy.
After a day or two Marco saw the worried face on Lopez and asked her, Lopez of course doesn�t tell her father what she feels, but Marco sensed that he was not wanted and he was a burden. He contacted the owner of the grocery store where he used to work. He talked to the owner whose name was Carlos. Carlos said that Marco could live with him in his apartment. He owned the apartment so didn�t ask Marco to pay anything. This too was one big thing Marco will never forget.
Marco told Lopez where he would go and when he will go. Lopez didn�t want her father to go ,but Max and her family came in the way and Marco didn�t want to be a part of that. He didn�t want to ruin Lopez life. Marco moved the very next day into his previous employer�s apartment.
Marco was very sad about moving out and excluding him from many of his family members, and he felt lonely because his wife didn�t care about him, his sons didn�t care about him, and his daughter moved away. It was a very sad time of Marco�s life. Marco lived with Carlos for a long time and stayed there. Sometimes when Lopez came for business trips, which wasn�t quite often, she�d stop by at Marcos and see how Marco�s doing. His wife called him but even on the phone they were angry and hurtful words from her because Marco wasn�t giving her any money, because he wasn�t making any money anymore. Marco didn�t feel good after receiving hurtful calls.
Chapter 4 Dieing
Marco was now living on his own with Carlo�s help, and wished he had died before when he had his heart attack. He was very sad and getting weaker every day.
It was getting late and was time for both of us to go and say good bye, I was crying, but still I took his address and phone number and promised I would meet him again, but he said that don�t say you promise until you really mean it. He said thank you a lot of times and said good bye. He then left disappearing in to the crowd.
As I promised, I went to him with some cookies and coffee and he was there. Marco opened the door and was surprised to see me. He looked worse. He told me that Carlos had left for a business trip.
�He came to me and told that he�d be going for a few weeks to, a business trip, and I have to take care of myself then he gave me some money and left.� He sounded worse. He coughed at like almost every sentence he said. He didn�t look quite good either. I asked him if he went to the doctor he said he couldn�t walk there. He didn�t have the energy any more.
I offered to take him to the hospital in my mom�s car .
He smiled at me and said that I have been a big help already and what�s the use of going to the doctors when I am going to die. There was a very long pause mentioning his death had struck me hard but I couldn�t imagine it, but the fact is that everyone has to die whether rich or poor.
Chapter 5 Shock
I went to Marco�s house a couple of months later with some cookies and milk. When I knocked on the door a lady opened the door I asked her if she was Maria or Lopez or Margo she said she was Sally and she just moved in here. I asked her what happened to Marco at first she didn�t know who Marco was but then I told her the previous owner that lived here. Then she said something that made me in shock for a long time. Marco had died a peaceful death.
�When did he die?� I asked shockingly
�Marco died three days ago and he was going to have a funeral probably tomorrow,� She said sorrowfully. Sally had informed Carlos about Marcos death and Carlos came back and took care of the funeral. I was glad that I hadn�t missed the funeral but I was still in shock that he had died.
I went to Marco�s funeral almost all of his relatives were there. I shouldn�t have done this but I gave them a disgusted look, that they had gone away and didn�t care about Marco when he was alive and now they were crying over him. What difference has it made on their lives that now he�s dead. He didn�t live with them before. What change is it going to be on their lives? I was mad at them for not caring for Marco when he was alive.
I prayed on his grave for days. I just couldn�t get over it, and I probably would not. I was thinking about Marco�s new home. Is he going to be better not depending on pumping machines? Not depending on his wife sons or daughter? I feel relaxed that finally he got rid of his coughing. Now he doesn�t have to see the doctor. Now this world can not torture him anymore. He paid his price for having a nice wife and nice kids and a home , but he himself ended up homeless. Finally he got his own home which is much smaller but could be peaceful than the one he had. His grave. His life had touched me deep inside and shook me that people can end up where you wouldn�t even think they would. How did I know when I met Marco in the grocery store that he�d have a heart attack and his whole life would change after. I didn�t know he�ll one day ending up begging for food and be very lonely . Marco touched my heart very deeply he was one of the people I would probably never forget.
I wonder where I�ll end up one day? What will be my destiny?
Do you know where you�ll end up one day? What will be your destiny?
Marco wasn�t one of my relatives he was a respectful old person, he was the
victim of the material world this world lost his heritage, love, care, giving, and
family values.
Destiny
I wonder where I�ll end up one day? What will be my destiny?
Do you know where you�ll end up one day? What will be your destiny?
Marco wasn�t one of my relatives he was a respectful old person, he was the victim of the material world this world lost his heritage, love, care, giving, and family values.
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