Stories: Part Two

After Jay's death, Ono was devastated; she had no idea what had happened to Jay, and she assumed that he'd abandoned her deliberately. Even though it hadn't been intentional, Ono went into a tailspin and began to drink heavily (vodka was her drink of choice) and usually could be found at the park sitting outside the restrooms on the southern side of the park. While we typically only gave out food to people who lined up at the picnic tables in the NE corner of the park, we tried to make sure someone took a plate down to her and either give it to her or just leave it for her if she'd passed out. She eventually disappeared and we heard that she'd passed away, I imagine due to cirrhosis of the liver, based on how much she was drinking every day, usually at least a bottle of vodka or so.

Then there was Francisco. He was a Hispanic gentleman and could have been anywhere from his 40's into the 60's. His English was difficult to understand because he had a speech impediment. Anyone able to get past that impediment would have been as amazed as I was to discover that he routinely attended free lectures on various subjects given on the USC campus and was actually pretty intelligent and quite competent. He would often stay late after most everyone else had left, and I had a lot of interesting conversations with him. He somehow contracted the Nile virus and was hospitalized for a number of weeks; apparently he was in the very small percentage of those infected who suffered severe symptoms. He was eventually discharged, and he passed on with a few months, presumably from complications associated with the Nile virus. 

Fernando was someone who died living outside as a consequence of his hoarding books. He had two storage units full of books he'd accumulated over the years but never read. He was offered section eight housing, but he turned it down when he discovered he'd have to give up his books.