Bob Wells died today.

I just sent this poem to a composer of haikus who was very moved by it.

Eva, I was not a poopity head either. Sigh. I once suggested I might be, and he said, no you're not.

He felt that I was the only one (or one of the few) who could understand some of what he was going through--physically and mentally. It took him longer to get from the bed to the bathroom, but we both went through the same exercise to get there.

On my Surgery thread, I said something like, "How can I walk if I can't breathe?" He chimed in, "Exactly."

I complained that I wasn't as smart as I used to be. He said that he understood exactly what I meant and that no one else "got it." I got it. He got it.

One of the last things he said to me: He was telling me how much he loved Diane. Then he said he loved me too. (Moi?) I told him I loved him too.

He once called me a 'libtard'. What a guy.

Bob was always saying: I never liked Letty/Betty.

When I last talked to him on the phone, he reminded me of this poem that he had written so long ago.

Denouement

My life is of sentences,
an occassional paragraph.
There are no chapters.
The beginning, the end
are written on the same page.
You can read my life
if you take the time.
Start anywhere,
stop when you are tired.

Roberta, I'm really glad to hear the two of you commiserated about the breathing problems and the mental fuzziness. I'm sure you did "get it," and I'm relieved to know he had someone he could talk to about it. I had problems accepting it when he complained about losing intellectual ability because he was still so damn much smarter than me that he left me in the dust.

Eva, That's the problem we both had. No one could understand what we meant or how we felt. I KNOW I'm not as smart as I used to be. He KNEW that he wasn't as smart as he used to be. Everybody else figured that we're both so smart, how could it possibly be? I know my perceptions. He knew his. I knew how my mind used to work. He knew how his used to work. We understood each other in this respect. Nobody else got it or gets it.

It was good for me to have somebody who understood, and I assume it was good for Bob to have somebody who understood.

As Bob would say...

Exactly.

So Sorry to disillusion you, Edgar, but Richard Brautigan wrote that poem.

One of the few things that drove me crazy was when he would leave out the attribution when he used the work of someone else. I would tell him it was wrong, but he would say he couldn't remember the name of the author. I do know that he didn't mean for it to be attributed to him.

Aha, a flaw.

Oh dear, I might need to start googling all of those poems. He wrote down what he thought was beautiful, not always his own.

I think that might also be Brautigan. He introduced me to Brautigan and read some of his poetry to me.

Beautiful, naughty man.

JLN, he loved you for that.

He was so delighted when, at the front door of your house, he said to Luchi, "I really don't know much about Nietzsche," and Luchi replied, "Ah, but you are Nietzsche."

Dys was deep, and this is no criticicism of his memory, but he wasn't Nietzche.

He was an extremly well read, highly opinionated, original thinker.

His passing is a major loss.

I would very much have liked to meet him him even if one of us might not have left the meeting alive.

Again, my sincere condolences. My bet though is that he left you with a wealth of memories to draw upon in your grief.

It was in an original writing thread.

(((((((((((((Diane)))))))))))))))

I don't really care if the poems were written by Bob or not. They meant something to him, so they mean something to me.

If you have a gathering in ABQ in memory of Bob, I'll try my best to be there.

He gave two versions of some. That suggests he wrote them down from memory.

JLN, I was trying to see if I was finally allowed to repy to pm's, but no luck. In the meantime I came across a very funny thread (short) started by Bob.

http://able2know.org/topic/168787-1#post-4530830.

Dadpad should see this one.

I've been working and haven't checked into this thread for a couple of days. Everyone's memories are very touching. The idea that Bob was cranky surprised me. I always thought of Bob as a fun, eager intellectual with a lot of experience in living and knowledge about almost anything. I remember Diane when Bob first introduced Bratigan (sorry about the spelling, but I AM dyslexic). We were both so impressed. I went right away and bought every book Bratigan wrote. They are on my book shelf even now. And I think fondly of you and Bob every time I happen to notice them there. I've read most of them too. Re crankiness: I think Bob talked backwards. If he said you were poopity or that he never liked you that meant he was feeling affectionate. Or at least that's what it meant to me. I wish we had kept in touch more over the last two years. I didn't realize that Bob and you Diane were still so active on A2K. Or that Bob was so ill. How I would have loved to join in. It's my loss.......but I do have the fondest memories of you and Bob in Albuquerque. I just wish I could see him and I'm sad that it will never happen again. But we'll look forward to seeing you and the others this Fall, whenever the its time for this meeting to take place.

And PDiddie........"@blatham and Lolaessence: Relocating to Austin! How delightful to be able to see y'all again when you get settled." Yes, won't that we great? I forgot that you were in Houston. Or I hadn't put it together yet. We'll look forward to it.

Love you all.
Jane

Agree.

I can't post the pic here because it is from dys' flickr account. And I hope I have permission from shewolf and Lady Diana to post this. But I came across it while looking though Bob's photos.
So sweet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dyslexiaphotos/1115598611/

I never met Bob, but I think I understood him pretty well and appreciated the humour that could sometimes be lost by some people.

Our religious views were not even close, but I think we understood each other there as well and respected each others views. My only communication with Bob (Dys), outside of the threads, was when he would PM me sometimes on something that I wrote in a thread or responded to something he had written, or our mutual agreement or disagreement with what somebody else may have written. I was aware of his illness although it did not come through in his threads. I would have loved to have met Bob so that we could have disagreed in a spirited conversation and enjoy a cold one together. One of my regrets in life.

I always enjoyed his posts and I'll miss him dearly.