MP of the week: Henry Lopez

I’m home from the hospital. They’re still waiting for the rest of Ellen’s family to get here (her parents are flying in from Texas, for example) before they turn the machines off, or something. Anyway, nothing has changed.

This week’s featured missing person is Henry T. Lopez Jr., as requested by his daughter. He was last seen at a company Christmas party in Inverness, Florida on Christmas Day in 1990. I don’t have much on him. The daughter has supplied a little bit more which I plan to add to his casefile.

R.I.P.

A good friend of Michael’s was in a car crash and sustained head injuries a few days ago. She had a subsequent stroke on both sides of the brain. The brain scan shows black on about 75% of one side and half the other. I am writing this on my tablet as we sit around in the ICU waiting area. They are going to begin organ donation procedures soon. This is basically a death watch.

I barely knew Ellen and feel a bit awkward here among her friends. I have mostly been saying sorry and patting people’s arms a lot. I went in to see her and the room feels empty; I mean, I feel like I’m the only person present. Like there’s nothing there anymore, that Ellen as a human being is already gone. She was in her forties. Her husband and ex-husband are here. She was a teacher but had no kids of her own.

I doubt I will be leaving anytime soon. I doubt I will be able to update today.

On the bright side, Michael got a job offer today and accepted it.