i want my empty vee

Yesterday we got together to celebrate my brother F’s birthday. AA and his family also came down from upstate to join us. My aunt V picked up F from the train station while I rode to the restaurant with my parents. Somehow I find it amusing that we make F come to Long Island so that we can celebrate his birthday.

On the way to the restaurant, the radio was on. I heard one of the most bizarre stories in a while.

Somewhere in the Hamptons, I think, a serviceman drove out to a house to check up on some possible burst water pipes. The last few days got pretty cold and icy. The house was one of those secluded ones, somewhere in a woodsy area. The serviceman went inside the house to talk to the owner to locate the burst pipes. He found a man sitting on the couch staring ahead at the tv that was blaring. It took a moment for the serviceman to realize the guy sitting on the couch was dead.

Apparently, the body had been there so long, it had mummified. They determined later after examining the state of decomposition, that the man had been dead for at least a year.

A couple things came to mind when I heard this (like a few things wouldn’t).

1) in order for a body to become mummified, there had to be certain environmental conditions – the guy had to have no pets or plants there (no humidity)
2) how on earth did he pay his bills if he had been dead a year? I guess maybe he had some sort of automatic payments set up
3) wasn’t there a noticeable heap of junk mail around somewhere?
4) He must have been a real recluse – no friends, family, and so on
5) If what they say is true, then that tv has been on for at least a year straight… what’s the name of that brand again?
6) Apparently too much tv can in fact kill you

However amusing, bizarre, or whatever the story was, in a way I thought it was kinda sad. Being there alone at the end, with no one to curious or around. It is something of a nightmare for me – ending up alone in the end… no one really caring enough that you’ve gone or disappeared for a while. I guess the flipside can be said too – people who are kinda aloof about staying in touch can frustrate and sadden me as well until they eventually drift away.

God, I hope I don’t end up alone, no one should have to be alone.