Photography & digital magic: H.J. McEnroe
December 23, 2018 is a day I won’t soon forget…if ever. My wife, Maria, and I had just boarded an American Airlines plane at Heathrow Airport, London, bound for the U.S after a rickety, puddle-jumping flight from Prague. Squeezing into our assigned “pods” in business class, what I’d always regarded as an unnecessary luxury had suddenly become necessity. We were escaping, you see…from a journey into the macabre of eastern European healthcare. For now, let’s just say we were a bit…scarred.
The flight attendant appeared before me in smart, navy blue skirt to her knees. Her white, crisply pressed cotton blouse framed a sharp contrast to the human-stained cotton sheet that had been my only source of cover for a week.
“Would you like something,” she asked, “before we take off?”
“Any single malt whiskey…make it a double!” I answered dryly.
“Of course!” she replied, “…ice?”
“Optional.”
Turning to my wife, across the aisle – who didn’t wait to be asked – the attendant was given the answer: “Red wine, please.”
Then, I saw it – that same look of trauma in her eyes that I was wearing. It was palpable.
Staring over at her, Maria finally looked across at me, tears forming.
I asked, “Who would ever believe any of this…?”
She shook her head and began to laugh. In that moment, I knew: this story must be told.
Writing The Worst Hospital in Prague is how I spent my “summer and autumn of Covid.” In a time when the corona virus wreaks tragedy on all sides, it didn’t take long to realize – looking back two years – the dark humor of it all.
Now, the project is nearly ready in book form, and I am excited to share it with you. Whether in e-book or physical book, you may choose whichever format you please. There will be book-signings and an opportunity to hear selected readings from the story. The first of those events will be Saturday, December 5, at Graphite Pencil and Paper – a cool little shop of marvels in downtown McKinney. If you live near McKinney, we invite you to attend in person. It’ll be fun.
More details are forthcoming, along with information regarding how to pre-order copies. For now, just wanted to let you – my dear readers – know that an adventure awaits you.