OUR LAST LAUGH TOGETHER

 

The first time I smelled marijuana was in 1969 at a Richie Havens concert. I asked Gerald, "What's THAT smell?" He laughed and said, "It's pot." I asked, "How do you know?" He answered, "Because I smell it all the time at work!"

Gerald and I had very good seats at that concert and shortly before the concert started a swarm of people flooded the aisles close to us. Security never even bothered to come to make them move! [Hey, it was the 60s!] We had aisle seats and a noticeably pregnant woman squatted down beside Gerald's seat and sat cross-legged on the floor. Ever the gentleman, Gerald jumped up and offered his seat, which she gladly accepted. Within minutes, she offered me a joint. I gasped, "Should you be doing that while you're pregnant?" She said, dopily, "I'll have a mellow baby!" When I didn't take the joint, she said, "Pass it on down." I couldn't believe that someone would take a puff from a cigarette of another person--a stranger--but the next person took it! [Hey, it was the 60s!]

I often told Gerald that we shouldn't take a physical after a concert after being engulfed by the fragrance.

I encountered THAT illegal aroma quite often after that. Sometimes I think that Gerald and I are the only ones of our generation who didn't smoke pot. When my sister-in-law was dying from cancer, she had no appetite because of all the chemo and radiation. She was staying with me for a couple of days while my brother closed on their house out of town. She said that she thought she could eat some of my noodles. I set about making chicken and noodles. I'll never forget, as I was hurrying down to the family room, I tripped on the steps, spilling noodles all over the floor and I broke my little toe. I hobbled back to the kitchen and took another serving to her; when she tried to take a bite, she couldn't. I asked her, "Do you want me to get you some marijuana; I hear it helps?" Shocked, she asked, "HOW would YOU get marijuana?" I looked at the clock and said, "I can have some in half an hour." She said, "I thought that you would NEVER do anything like that." I said, "Hell, I think it should be legalized, and I would do it for you." She said, "I've never even smoked a cigarette." I asked, "Do you know how to inhale?" We laughed. It's the last laugh we ever had together. Since the statute of limits has expired, I am glad I got marijuana for her.