A man from Louisiana shares his story; and he also updates us on the condition of his friend, Jenna Aurora Whitson, who is recovering from injuries from a car accident. (She is still in the hospital.) He is in Tennessee at this writing because his friend is in Tennessee; she was in Tennessee when the accident happened; she was on her way to Louisiana from Alaska when the accident happened; she was on her way to Louisiana to visit her friend. As you can probably guess, Jenna never made it out of Nashville, Tennessee.
This is Michael Doucet again. I am still stuck in this hotel room, bored out of my mind; I have been doing nothing but going to and from the hospital to be with Jenna, and I am about to go stir crazy! If I don't do something quick, I just may do something CRAZY! (NOT really, BUT...you DON'T want to mess with a bored or a restless CAJUN! LOL)
I am Michael Wayne Doucet, and I am 50 years old; I live in Shreveport, Louisiana, but have been here in Nashville, Tennessee, ever since my girlfriend--ah, er...FRIEND---was injured in a horrific car accident that squashed her Bug and left her pretty much in the same condition. This happened prior to Thanksgiving, and now it is the beginning of January; she has been in the hospital for over a month now; and there is no telling WHEN she may get out. She had suffered horrifying injuries: she had suffered a broken leg and arm (left), her upper and lower jaws, and a punctured lung as well as a ruptured spleen; she is still continuing to recover as I write this, and now they have her in physical therapy where they are working with her to stretch unused muscles and will then teach her how to walk again once she gets the cast off her arm and gets the fixator removed from her leg. She still has a long way to go before she walks again, so until that day comes, she is working on strengthening her muscles.
Jenna has lost an awful lot of weight since becoming injured: I guess having broken jaws will do that to a person. Her jaws, her upper and lower, are wired, and she has been eating by way of a tube in her nose; and she has lost weight, and she is starting to look pretty skinny. Jenna has never been that skinny in the first place; she has been a little pudgeball ever since I have known her; and now, she is wasting away in front of my eyes, it seems like. She IS starting to feel SOMEWHAT better, but she can't wait until she gets the wires taken out of her mouth or the tube out of her nose; and I KNOW she wants that cast and fixator removed; they MUST be driving her BATS by now! LOL Jenna is starting to get a bit cranky; so she MUST be feeling SOMEWHAT better! LOL
ANYWAY....to tell you MY side of the story (up to now, all I have talked about is Jenna! LOL), my name is Michael Wayne Doucet, and I am 50 years old. I am the oldest of 12 kids; and all are, I am happy to say, still alive; and all live in Louisiana. (Most live in the Lake Charles area; Lake Charles, Louisiana, so happens to be right where we Doucets were born.) My daddy, Percival, died last year of a sudden stroke; his death really shook us kids to the core; but our dear Maman is still living, thank goodness; but Maman is getting frail now, and we worry about her constantly, especially since she lives alone. (Maman's name is Virdie, and she is a very sweet and gentle little soul; and we just love her to death!) We think she may get sick or fall, and we don't like worrying so much about her; but we have her neighbor check in on her every day; plus Maman does call me about every other day; so as long as we hear from her or from our neighbor, then we know that Maman is okay; and we can all breathe a little easier.
Poor Maman has been so sad and lonely ever since Papa Percy died; and I don't blame her; after all, she and Papa WERE soulmates for nearly 50 years before he took sick and then died; and this only happened in the fall of 2002, a little over a year ago. The holidays have been rough on her, poor Maman. But she DOES know about Jenna; and she DOES know that I am in love with her, and in fact, Jenna was gonna' finally meet my family when she was in that wreck in Tennessee; and ever since, all they care about is "How is Jenna doing?" "Have you heard the latest about her condition?" "When is she getting out of the hospital?"--those types of questions. They also know what she looks like, and they think she is adorable, which she IS (but then, I am NOT prejudiced! LOL).
So, in addition to calling my family and running up their phone bills every week, I also have to call HER family in Alaska and inform THEM; my phone bills lately have been really OUTRAGEOUS! (YOU try calling Alaska or Lousiana each and every week and see what it does to YOUR phone bill! LOL)
Before I knew that Jenna had been injured and thought that she was on her way to Louisiana, we had so much planned for her. We were going to take her to Mulate's Cajun Restaurant in Breaux Bridge, which is near Lafayette; and we were going to show her a Cajun good time; but then came that call, when the police called, looking for me, so he could inform me about Jenna's being hurt in Tennessee and all; and now, our plans have been put on hold; and all we can do now is wait until the spring or summer, when Jenna SHOULD be recovered, and then we can do it THEN. But first she has to get better, and that is IF she is able to walk; there may be a chance that she won't be able to walk as well as she used to...or at all. She really had some bad injuries to her hip and leg--
As I stated before (or was it Jenna? I can't remember; hell, I can't remember what has happened YESTERDAY, for Christ's sake! Jenna's accident and my being stuck here in Nashville for the past month or so has really messed up my schedule!), I am a bartender in Shreveport. I work at a sports bar, and I make very good money; and I love my job very much; but since Jenna has been hurt, I am afraid that I haven't worked; and right now, I am sure my boss has stopped wondering about me by now or has already replaced me or fired my Cajun ass. If so, I can always look for another job; but with my girlfriend being in the hospital now in another state, I can't risk leaving her, in case something should happen, like her unexpectedly dying on me or something. (Come ON, Michael..think PLEASANT thoughts here; DON'T think just about the negative or what COULD happen....)
As Jenna (and her nurse, Louie Sandusky) have stated in earlier tales, I lived in Alaska for a time while my papa was in the service. We DID; I am NOT kidding! But it got to be too cold; and this was when we said to HELL with all the cold, and we moved back to the warmth and welcome of Cajun Louisiana; and we have been in Louisiana ever since. I was all but 19 when I first laid eyes on Jenna; and it was love at the first sight of her; and I have been in love with her ever since. Jenna is my love, my life, and my everything; and she makes my life worth living, as does my family and my Louisiana home. Alaska WAS nice, and it was oh, so beautiful; but I just could NOT handle the COLLLLLLD weather! LOL 'Bout froze my Cajun ass off, I did; it's a wonder it (or any other part of me) didn't freeze or fall off! LOL
Jenna was all but 13 when I first met her; and the first time I saw her in Barrow, Alaska, she was being tossed on a blanket. No kidding! She was; and she was enjoying being thrown into the air, and I will never forget the sound of her squeals or her laughter! To my ears, it sounded like bells: sweet and musical. But I had no idea she was deaf until later; and when I found out that she WAS deaf, I was surprised, but I found her to be determined to overcome her handicap, and she communicated quite well with her eyes and with her face; and she lip-read better than most people. (She hardly ever used sign language; to her sign language separated her from most people, and she didn't want to feel handicapped; so she opted to lipread or write things down on paper in order to communicate. She was a very resourceful young lady, and she still is today.)
Now Jenna and I are much older of course: I am now 50 and grey-haired and balding; and Jenna...well, she has a few wrinkles around her eyes; but to me, she is still as beautiful now at the age of 44 as she was at the age of 13; and to me, she will always be that giggly little Native Alaskan girl I saw being tossed on that blanket in Barrow. I will never forget that first sight of her as long as I live!
Great story! Would love to hear more on
Jenna being deaf. But, that is just me.
I got results back and Sign Language
helps me to communicate better plus I
am deaf in one ear and hearing loss in other ear.
Thanks for comments on my poem!
Love in Christ,
Becca
Reviewed by Robert Blackwell
1/5/2004
As always, a very beautiful and touching write, Karen. I'd wish for 2004 to be a great literary year from you...but you're already off to a great start. {{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
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