Manifest Destiny: America from the Bottom Up - 83 - Phoenix, AZ - Union and Reunion

Marc Neubauer, Christine Curry Fruchey and the Author

I had an appointment to keep. I ran down to the store and bought a coffee. Motel 6 might have a lot of great points but their coffee is not one of them.

My appointment was to meet with Marc Neubauer and Christine Curry Fruchey at her workplace, the Maricolpa Medical Center.

I took a long shower and put on my newly washed clothes. I always feel nervous meeting a new friend like Marc in person for the first time - a union - and seeing an old friend in person - a reunion.

After all, I am a recluse in my normal life and would prefer to never even leave the house (or crappy camper, in my case--months ago). But this was too good an opportunity to let go of.

It was a short walk of a few blocks to the Medical Center. Unfortunately I walked into the State Hospital parking lot and was told by the unsmiling guard that I was in the wrong place. Then I went down to Roosevelt where I ventured into the wrong place again, but was told by the nice people there how to get to the right place. All I can say is: Thank you RhonnaLeigh for these glasses. I would not even be able to read street signs without them!

Eventually I found the "Information Desk." I asked if they had a Christine Fruchey in the building, second floor, maternity ward. The attendant looked through a notebook for a few minutes and could not make heads nor tales of it. I tried to relieve her awkwardness by saying that it was OK, and that I was waiting for a friend (Marc) anyway. She more confidently told me to sit down and wait for 1:00 pm and my friend and then to come back up to the desk and she would call for Christine. I agreed that that was a good plan.

Marc strolled in just after 1:00 pm and I recognized him immediately--though we had never met in person. We gave each other a bud-hug and went back to have the desk call Christine. No one was there.

The next receptionist (who had heard all of this while waiting for her shift to begin), leisurely walked over and sat down. Marc and I waited patiently for her to put her coffee under the desk, log into the computer and clear her throat. But she never had the chance to ask us what we needed. Christine had come down to see if we were there.

After introductions and some talking Christine led us down the stairs to the cafeteria kitchen. We were all hungry and the smell of food was intoxicating. I hadn't eaten since the day before and was ready to. We got our food and headed to the checkout where Christine took care of the bill.

We sat down at a round little table among the other employees. I think we were all very comfortable with each other by then and we began to talk. Marc and I told Christine about our common interest in a certain book. We talked about Avalon Organic Gardens & EcoVillage, the history behind it and why I wanted to visit there. Christine was very interested. Then she and I told Marc a little bit about our past in Yarmouth, Maine.

She and I had grown up in the same town. One of her first boyfriends was also my best friend back then (David Allard). Christine has a beautiful voice and was always in the chorus at YHS. She has not lost her love of singing and still participates in her daughters' music program. Marc, being a fellow musician and incredible drummer in his own right, could easily grasp the connection.

From there, we joked around a bit and finished our meals. When we were done, the idea occurred to all of us that a picture was of paramount importance. We followed Christine up the echo-filled stairway to the first floor and out into the hospital courtyard for pictures and to talk a bit more.

It was a nice area, filled with plants and the plaques of patrons who had been very impressed with the work of the people there. Christine deals with low-income and other mothers who need counseling during and after giving birth. That is her job. She said that smiling does a lot. And I certainly wouldn't argue with that--modest statement as it may be, because her smile, easy going manner and personality could put anyone at ease. No one would have to tell me that she was good at her job. It was self-evident. She told us that even Nigerians with a lot of money will fly to their hospital to give birth and then fly back to Africa!

Her work was fascinating to hear about. She has been working at this kind of service for 20 years! I felt sheepish and humbled by how little I've done with my own life. But she would never accept such an expression on my part. She obviously has an open and free-philosophy about what people do with themselves. To be so nonjudgmental and accepting must serve her well. I can only stand in awe of such people.

I told both her and Marc about my generalizations of the folks who I've met as I crossed the nation. Every now and then she would mention how she had seen goodness where I had not, especially in New England people. And I think she was right. I had a very specific experience. But generalizing on my part was probably not fair. The feeling I got from her was that there are good people in every place. That was instructive to me. I don't think I will be able to judge - nor should I - the nature of the personality of a state by my limited view. Already she had taught me something.

But she certainly wasn't there to make me question my views. Far from it! She was instead diplomatic and just...friendly. As has happened with some other people from school that I've met since graduation, I was kicking myself internally for not having known her better back in the "day."

I remember her as a bright-faced and enthusiastic musician and kind girl. Now I saw her as exactly that, but in the form of an experienced and wise woman. Marc saw this too, though he'd never known her twenty odd years ago.

We took our pictures (now on Facebook). The cool dry air and the bright sun lifted the beauty of the flowers and plants around the courtyard. Arizona is SUCH a beautiful place. It has a light all its own. Every state does. But the clarity of the grandeur in the Phoenix afternoon shone like a diffuse cloud of emotional peace not unlike that found sitting among the flowers by the still waters of a pond. In fact, though many people encouraged me to skip Phoenix, I have felt this same sense over and over since being here. It is strange. There is the feeling of being on a bay, though there is very little water. The blue of the sky mixed with the flatness of the valley, in the afternoon, reminds my of Cape Cod in a way. Weird, but true.

Eventually we had to let Christine go back to her work. None of us wanted to stop talking, but all things must pass on to their inevitable conclusions. It was with a reluctant wave that Marc and I moved on. We watched Christine walk back into the normalcy of her day.

On the way back to Marc's truck in the far parking lot we reflected upon this odd opportunity. And now I was going to have the chance to get to know him better.
When we reached the truck we began to stitch together the synchronicity of our own meeting. Marc and I had known each other as kindred online souls. But it wasn't until we began to explore our interests and beliefs in person that we realized just how similar we are.

Marc is an avid - some might say obsessed - cat lover. He and his mate Lynn care for over a dozen cats at their home. But it doesn't stop there. EVERY evening (and I do mean *every*) he goes around the neighborhood feeding all the strays and street cats that he can give food to. For many, many years he has lovingly caught fixed and released dozens upon dozens of cats. He is not rich. In fact, he struggles just like we all do. But he makes room in his budget for (I'm not exaggerating) hundreds of pounds of pounds of cat food every month. He has done this for years.

He has a heart that must exist outside his body for being so big. In his efforts to save every cat he can he has fought off roving dogs and tragically was bitten by a cat he was helping out. The cat was fine--still with him I believe. But the bite instantly infected his hand. He had sent me pictures of it a couple years ago. His hand looked like a catcher's mitt. He had surgery to try to repair the damage. They took a lot of tissue from his leg just to save his hand.

Now, Marc is a very talented musician. He plays most instruments, but his main focus is the drums. Since his hand has been injured he is not able to play anything any more. What could be worse for a musician?

But still he feeds the cats every day. He loves them with an unusual and admirable passion. He remembers every single one that he has been in contact with. To hear him tell of some of the tragedies that these creatures have experienced is sometimes more than I can take--being a huge cat lover myself. I thought that having to deal with the loss of my cat, Buddy's, leg was bad. But Marc has seen them torn apart by dogs, drowned in pools and hit intentionally by cars. I simply shutter. That's all.

There is much about Marc and how he and I think alike that I will get into in the next post, not having to deal with cats, but I can't overemphasize just what kind of incredible energy he has poured into his love for cats other creatures. He embodies the very concept of empathy. He is far too modest to even talk about all that he has done. But - for me - he doesn't need to. As with Christine's work, it is self evident.

We talked in that parking lot for over three hours. We watched the sun go down just talking and getting to know each other. I can honestly say that I have not met another soul who thinks as similarly as I do about such a range of issues--even spiritual ones. Marc wears his soul on the outside. So, it was easy for us to connect. Our Sparks knew each other long before this world was even created. And they Planned for not only our meeting that day, but our whole lives up to it.

Phoenix Sunset from the Parking Lot

Such is the way things are in this world. If people could slow down, simplify, stop shopping for a few minutes, stop trying to impress each other for a few moments and simply observe and THINK, they would see what I am seeing. I am SURE of it.

These two people, Christine and Marc, give hope to those who have none. They both take out their spirits every day and overlay them upon the suffering of others. No, it doesn't always sooth the ones they seek to help. But the FACT, the Truth, that they are out here in this world working their asses off to do what they know is right, should be a cold and stiff reminder to those who pose and strut and fake their way through every day.

These two human beings do the work of heaven, here on earth. But they were not ASKED to. They didn't even join an organization that expected them to do it. THEY went out into the world and saw pain. Then they knelt down beside the ones who could not help themselves and said "I am here. I give you my smile, my heart, my SELF, that you might rise again into the dignity of existence."

There is no big suffering or small suffering! There is just NEED for its alleviation everywhere, all the time. There are so many pockets where the shadows stop and stay. What else could we ask for than people who can move the barriers that block the Light, at sometimes great personal risk and psychological expense?

There are too few of them. There are so many of us. Maybe it is time to become one of them? Pull the barrier that blocks the Light off someone or some creature tomorrow, and maybe the next day too. I will try this myself. Through union and reunion all things can become new.

It is after all...

LOVE in Action.