I received this email from a poker playing buddy about 45 minutes ago. It's about our mutual poker buddy, Jim.
Jim is 67. He's had AIDS for over 20 years. Not just HIV, but full blown AIDS from what he told me. We went to Atlantic City a few times together and played cards all night and slept in the next morning. My husband never minded me sharing a room with a gay guy over 20 years older than me.
On those trips, Jim would bring a cooler with all his meds. It was a small one, but nonetheless, it held more prescription bottles than I had ever seen at one time.
Jim is a hold 'em player, but he's about to draw his last card. We had some good times at the card tables, and he spent Christmas Eve 2007 with me and my family and other friends. He loved the duck I made I made for dinner that night. I gave him a Redskins sweatshirt. He put it on right over his flannel shirt. Jim was the only gay Virginia redneck I have ever known, but I'm sure there are lots of others.
My friend sent a card player's tribute, which I have posted below. We're going to have a tournament in Nothern Virginia sometime soon, and donate proceeds to AIDS research or gallbaldder cancer research That what got Jim is dying of now, and I don't what the connection is between AIDS and gallbladder cancer if there is one, but I know AIDs has all kinds of related cancers.
I'll miss Jim. He is a true character, and soon, I'll be speaking of him in the past tense, but he lived with AIDS for over 20 years, so I know it's not the death sentence it used to be. I hope that someday AIDS is no longer a "bad beat," to use poker parlance. I'd like to see the day when it's just one bad card, and you can be holding four Aces along with it.
A tribute to a card player:
"All--I'm afraid our buddy Jim has run out of "A's". His daughter Kim called me. I called back and Jim intercepted the call and we spoke for about 2 minutes. He is on the "watch". He is bleeding internally and it can't be stopped. He was coherent and we were, blessedly, able to say good-bye to one another. He was very brave. He asked me to tell everyone how much he loved them and how much he had enjoyed our camaraderie over the last few years across the table. The Hospice people are there and he is not in pain. I then spoke with Kim and they think it's within the next 24 hrs or so....Jim fell immediately back to sleep after he handed the phone to Kim....
After about 15 emotional minutes and speaking with Pxxx P and Pxxx V, I went over to our poker table. I reached down and started dealing out cards to see who would get the deal. I started with Jim, who as you know always preferred to sit to my left. He drew "J clubs"; next spot, the typical P Pxxx or Cxxx spot was "2 diamond", next for Wxxx spot "5 clubs", then Sxxx, Jxxx, Pxxx V etc spot was "3diamonds"; then Mxxx/Sxxx spot was "Jhearts"; I drew the "10 hearts". So Jim and the "Sxxx" spot who had both drawn Jacks had to draw again to see who would get the deal. And as God is my witness, this is what drew: the first Jack position pulled a "6 spades".
I reached down and drew Jim's final card and it was: the QUEEN OF DIAMONDS!!! Can't you hear him let out a belly laugh over that one!!! We will never know how he pulled that one off from such a distance...The Lord works in mysterious ways.....But wherever we are and whenever we draw a queen of diamonds for the deal in the future, let's all smile to ourselves and think of himmmm....Deal?"