Dear Mr. Collins,
I don’t know if you received my previous letter, and I apologize if you did not expect to hear from me again. I only wanted to send you the enclosed business card from Hospice Austin, with Randy’s room number on it (#105), in case you want to call or write. His social worker told me that he has much less than six months to live go. He has end stage aids, I think it is called. Margaret didn’t tell me that. Margaret is the social worker. Very sweet lady. She only said he has less than six months to live (which is why he came to Hospice Austin – whose initials, Randy pointed out, spell ha!).
Oh, I know you know what a wonderful friend person Randy is! His sense of humor shines through even though he is so sick and depressed alot of the time. I can only imagine. In case you don’t know, I’ll tell you now. Randy fell climbing out of the neighborhood cemetery after hours. It would be a funny story if he hadn’t hurt himself so bad. He cut his leg on the gate, bad enough that his leg had to be amputated.
But that is only the tip of the iceberg for dear sweet Randy. He disappeared from me for a couple of days because he didn’t have id on him, and the fall knocked him out unconscious. He was found by a man on a bicycle late in the evening. I had to make a lot of phone calls, but finally found him at the Brackenridge Hospital across the highway from our neighborhood. which has made it very convenient for me to visit him.
The gates on the cemetery (where Randy had taken to walking regularly) are very old and have cast iron sword tips points tips on top. One (or maybe more) of them was what cut into Randy’s leg. thigh. When he woke up at the hospital, he had already lost most of his right leg.
Randy has no family to speak of. I know that his mother passed away. He has a sister named Rona. Do you know her? He told me he hasn’t talked to her in a long time, but I am hoping someone will be able to contact her. He has mentioned other friends, but before the accident, so I don’t have their numbers. Anita, Charles, do these names ring any bells? Please tell anybody you know who might want talk to Randy to please call me
He Randy hasn’t been able to talk since the accident. because he He bit his tou tongue almost in half and he can’t talk around the stitches, and his right hand is bandaged as well so he can’t write notes. I am in a fix! I guess we’ll just have to wait and hope for the best, whatever that may be.
If you are averse to calling or contacting Randy yourself, please do me the kindness of passing along his contact information to anybody anyone you know who may know Randy.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.
Peace,
Amitodana