The Aneurysm, part 1

I was dead, then alive.
Weeping, then laughing.

— Rumi, Essential Rumi, tr. Coleman Barks, p. 134




March 12, 2009. Thursday. Portland. 7:15 a.m. 24*F. Clear.

Tuesday eve Jeff gave me the news that Elizabeth is in the hospital in Seattle having suffered a double brain aneurysm and pursuant 8-hour surgery to repair them.

She worked for me at the publishing company I ran in Seattle for a number of years. She was my right arm there. Gifted writer. She babysat my oldest when he was very small. She is in her late thirties.

I was standing in our bathroom here in Maine when he told me. Shortly thereafter headed out to meet with the coop moms at Whole Foods. Peter Spence had emailed me & Jeff to give us the news — P. got my auto message saying I was off the internet, but had gotten through to Jeff. E’s husband had asked Peter to get in touch with me.

I left a message for Peter Tuesday night and spoke to him yesterday for about a half hour. Peter had been to visit Elizabeth a couple of times. Tuesday night I’d also tried to reach her family at the ICU at Swedish, where I thought she was.

They had no record of her there. When I spoke to Peter Tuesday he corrected it to say she was at Harborview ICU which made more sense.

It was good to talk to Peter — I so vividly remember him, working with him, his golden retrievers lying around the 19th century pioneer cabins that had become our office space on old Ballard Ave in Seattle.

Peter told me about the caringbridge.org site that’s been set up for updates. I didn’t get into saying I can’t read those right now. He said her wit was intact in her lucid moments and it was a relief to hear that she is still in there.

[to be continued]