  I'd like to preface/begin/start my newest missive to Urban*Star by letting y'all know a little something about yours truly.
One of the tenets I use to guide myself down those roads I take to bring me to a future part of my life is the belief that there is no such thing as 'coincidence'.
I don't know the exact origin of the word 'coincidence', but before you start salivating/seizing/putting your nipples to the wind to scroll down and leave a comment, know that I above anyone else know that if I surf long enough on the most blessed miracle to have ever happened to have been bestowed upon us lowly sinners, i could find my answer. But first, may I remind you kittens, I have to care enough. Anyway, I digress. Back to my original point. I don't believe in 'coincidence'. Everything in our lives happens for a reason. We are constantly being shown signs/hints/revelations.
Sometimes they come all at once, and sometimes they are revealed to us in parts- a series of signs/hints/revelations that come in several parts at different times- like the best Agatha Christie novels. We may not understand exactly what they mean or why we are being given this information at the moment of our shining (Danny's not here, Mrs. Torrence!!). As long as we are open enough to know that we ARE being fed information from the universe, and see what is being revealed, and more importantly, REMEMBER what is being shown, we can piece it all together later, when the time is right for us to know the full story.
So- now that you have that little ort, my gracious readers, maybe you'll be able to feel what I feel right now, a feeling I have been trying to put into words, but for one of the VERY few times in my life, i am rendered speechless. Let me tell you what happened to me today. I met a person, who'll I'll call "Rick", just so you can get a visual feel for him, back in 1990 or there abouts. I met him at my workplace downtown. He was a new hire, and when we met, there was just that something you feel when you are eight....oops...I mean 8, and you know that the kid that just moved in next door was going to be your best friend, and was- until one of your families moved away, up to the big time.
We were best friends- Rick, myself, and his partner, "Les". We hung out alot, and had alot of fun. Then I got involved in a relationship that lasted sev...7 years and 2 months. It was a mental/physical/sexual/emotional abusive relation for most of that time.
I was literally cut off from all of my friends and family. But thats a different story for another time....I just wanted you to understand how I lost contact with them for 7 years. I reconnected with them about two years ago now, but alas, things are VERY different now. Not between us- we clicked again like no time had passed- like the 'happy' episodes of Classmates. Upon our reunion, I learned that one of only FOUR.....that's right, FOUR people in my entire life* that I have been able to call a true/best/loyal friend, now has full blown AIDS.
His is one of the worst the doctors have seen. His meds kinda/sorta/not really work, but on good days he can get around. *For those of you that really want to know, you'll have to figure it out for yourself. I'll give you a clue, 'tho. My claim to fame is that I'm an Original Valley Child Born In The Summer Of Love. He came over to my place because I had gotten him some 420, and as a return favor, he treated the Chillem.
After the first intake, he started to cough...a really deep/muscle straining/kind you hear in the nursing home (where grandma is housed) that gives you the creeps AND goosebumps. I asked, "Are you OK?? " He replied, "No, I'm dying from AIDS. " He said it in such a, pardon the pun, deadpan way- the way I remember Rick from way back when- that I laughed out loud while thinking to myself, "He still has his sense of humor. Mine would have gone LONG before. " After a few seconds, I realized that not only was he joking, but he was, pardon the pun again, dead serious. He still seemed to have trouble recovering, so I now asked, since I am such a good host, "Can I get you anything?
" while thinking if he doesn't want water or coffee, I can always run next door to the Citgo and get him something. He replied, "Yeah....a cure. " Such a simple request.....2 words, 5 letters........ Unfortunately, there isn't a Citgo, or anywhere else in any reaches of the far corners of this world/universe/galaxy for that matter that I could run to to get him what he needed. Or popped in to the closest SuperSizeMe to get a Big Aaaaaack! (Come Back To The Five and Dime, Bill The Cat, Bill The Cat.....), an order of fries, and a side of AIDSnoMO.
But Yahweh/Allah/The Hero With A Thousand Faces knows that I would have. After all, what are best friends for? Remember this, gentle readers- Anything and Everything. That's what you do for a best friend. And that begs another question- WHY isn't there a cure yet? After all the technological advances we have made in medicine in the past 40 or 50 years, surely we must have a cure. There is a cure you know- but to start using it would cost the drug companies millions of dollars annually, but alas, that too is another story for a future meeting.
After he left, I decided to log on and figure out what I was gonna write/go on about/post this week here on the 'ol Urban*Star, and I saw EdwardA's post, and followed through to read the entire article. (Thanks for the post, ERA. ) I know that I am being shown things now. For what purpose I'm not exactly sure yet, but I'll keep you posted.
Who knows- maybe I'll finally be the first one to be told the great secret of life......the Why Are We Here question that everyone has been asking, and Monty Python have been the best to come closest to with an answer, but I know that's not It. God...I HOPE that's not it. It CAN'T be It (My liver?? But I'm USING it!! )....or maybe I was just given the real answer to the title of this piece- which is the sound I felt rather than heard (stay with me, now), when I REALLY understood his very simple, but totally unexpected response to my offer of assistance.
I don't think his request was one bit unreasonable, 'tho. If there's one thing in life I've learned, it's that you will never get something you never ask for. No matter how outrageous it seems, if you ask enough people, sooner or later you'll run into someone who says "Yes". (But they STILL won't put it on a credit card, even if they do get a two-for-one ticket voucher for doing so. ) We all know/understand/accept the old adage that Life Goes On.....but it sure is a pisser the day you realize that it doesn't get any easier to bear when it Stops Going On for those we truly care about.
But....then again.....Life Goes On. And so we do. OutOfTheBlue@urbanstar.com 
