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The nurse's voice sounded familiar and yet strange as she apologized for the lateness of the telephone call. She quickly added that she knew he would want me with him, and I would want to see him one last time. Driving to the nursing facility, a memory surfaced. ...
"So, what do you see there?" he asked, this young man and cloud-gazer, pointing to a distant cloud.
"Food," I replied, much to his consternation. "Oh, come on," he moaned. "You always say that."
"I can't help it. I always see food. Today, it's a hot dog." Laughingly, he replied: "You don't even like hot dogs! But what you do like is to drive me crazy. That's it! You're determined to drive me mad! Instead of dying from AIDS, I'll die from madness." "Well," I remarked, pretending to be hurt, "if you don't like what I see in the cloud, how about telling me what you see?"
He sees a well and begins to outline its shape. "There it is!" He continues smugly: "It's so clear, even you should be able to see it!"
He asks if I know any Bible stories about wells. We discuss Joseph, the dreamer, who was stripped of his treasured coat, cast into a well, and abandoned to await death - all at the hands of his brothers. But Joseph does not die. As his life continues, he discovers a purpose and a meaning in his life experiences.
We speak also of the Samaritan woman, broken and vulnerable, who meets...