There is a guy in our neighborhood for whom I have become something of a benefactor.
He has been crippled by gout. He is 50 but shuffles about like he is 90. His fingers are gnarled. He cannot stand upright, etc. He was in a lot of pain when I first started helping him.
He just needed things done. Changing air conditioning filters and common mechanical shit that had long been ignored. He was extremely and painfully lonely and I’d hang out a bit watching a Patriots game together or a movie. I’d buy take out and bring it back.
He used to power lift. I have seen trophies hidden in closets. He went to one of the grittiest, hardcore gyms in our area back in the day. One room literally had a dirt floor. Legendary shit. He knows what racket I’m in.
Sports supplements in the 90’s are a whole topic and I never inquired what he might have taken. (We all wondered what the long term effects creatine and worse might be.) That whole topic would only lead to judgment.
As I spent more time with him it started to become clear to me there was a mental health issue at play. His debilitating gout was the result of ignoring the issue. He just refused to go to the doctor and he was enabled somewhat by a mother who at 90 is spry and lively despite never going to the doctor herself. She’s prolly nuts too.
I cannot understand how he ignored it. The pain Druff is feeling now he lived with for over a decade. Just willing it away. Really a strange tale.
The guy lived in a reality distortion field. Any hint of negativity was avoided by him. I was a problem in this regard. To some degree I wasn’t good for him because negativity and questioning the status quo is kinda my brand. He loved the Patriots and he didn’t want to share my fascination with the Kraft/Belichick Brady drama, for instance. It had to always be happiness and light. I can only do happiness and light in small doses.
So my good will and charity ends up not entirely positive for either him or me. Life is complicated even when you’re working hard at not being a self absorbed douche.
Anyway, he suffered an episode that landed him in the hospital and he later mentioned allopurinol (split knows stuff). Apparently, it’s proven a miracle drug for him albeit too late.
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