Conversations : Lucien, in which we speak of smoking, ex-wives, and travel.
Out of my eye's corner, I saw the man sit down in the chair a few feet away. I was on my laptop, racing to finish up some work before a looming deadline. He had nothing but a 12-ounce coffee in hand, which, in a coffeehouse, means one of three things. That a person is:
A) waiting for someone,
B) quietly meditating and watching people pass, or
C) wanting to strike up conversation with whoever happens to be there.
He looked outside at the downpour:
"Looks at that hail. Hail and rain. Don't see those together too often."
- Yep.
I said, politely acknowledging his weather opening, then going back to my work...
...and then that nagging feeling I often get - no, not the one you might be thinking, where I feel compassion for a lonely elderly man and thus strike up conversation, but the much less-altruistic thought that: "what if I'm missing out on a great conversation with a fascinating character?"
I looked up.
- How's your morning going?
"Well, I'm alive,"
he said, his Rutger Hauer-ish countenance and white-ish hair combed out fashionable length.
"No, I mean it. I'm glad to be alive. I've been on a feeding tube for the last 13 months."
- Really!
I said.
He stood up and moved on chair closer, settling in.
"Throat cancer."
He went into the details of the procedure and treatment; I confess I was not able to follow all of the specifics, but I will include the items I recall. A mixture of fresh information I was previously unaware of and old information that I had not thought extensively about in the ten minutes preceding our conversation. These items included the following:
He has not smoked for 42 years.
"I quit cold turkey."
- Why? I asked.
"Because I kept getting sick, getting colds, coughing, feeling terrible. I just knew I couldn't keep it up. And I was a three-pack a dayer. Just quit cold turkey. Took a year for my system to clear, but I haven't touched a cigarette since."
- So...was that the cause of the cancer?
"Who knows. Probably not. A common cause of throat cancer is HPV. You familiar with that? It's commonly transmitted through oral sex, but it can take thirty or forty years to show up."
He moved on before I was able to learn more about the specifics of his cancer's origin.
"I'm 76 and don't even drink. Tried wine after this surgery and it was...echh. My wife says I'm a cheap date. Don't eat, don't drink. Just come here every day for a cup of coffee. Already had a half cup at home, and now this."
- Right on.
I said.
Sounds like you've had quite the adventurous life.
"Oh yeah."
He said.
"Married to my fourth wife. We've been married twenty-five years now. She was married three times before, so between us we have eight marriages and no kids."
- Oh.
I said.
I have two. And a third on the way.
Laughs.
"That's a commitment. We travel frequently. Headed to London, then Paris soon, again. I've been all over."
- Oh.
I said.
I've read a lot of books about a lot of places.
And it’s true. I have. If I have the chance to travel to London, and Paris, and other places, I hope it is with Countess Becca, who is currently my first wife.
