A Google of a Chance Meeting

It all started earlier this week, when I was looking for directions to David’s Coffee House in Hillcrest. You see, that’s where Instant Theatre folk were told to meet – “David’s Coffee House” -- as if everyone should already know where that is. Except, I didn’t. So I Googled. And I found Mark.

The Google search took me to a blog posted last year, when a guy named Mark traveled from Dallas to San Diego to see his boyfriend Brian. As a San Diego traveler with a boyfriend named Brian, my interest was piqued. I read on. They’d been to Coronado Island and the Hotel Del, taken a bay cruise around the Midway and Star of India, and walked Balboa Park. I’d been there, too. I read on. They stopped to watch a glass fair. It turns out Mark is – or was – a glass blower. I’ve always been intrigued by that in that craft. I read on.

I hadn’t actually noticed at the time that I was reading last year’s entries. Mark had posted pictures of a Russian submarine at harbor that arrived here in April (it must have visited last year too), so I never bothered to notice the date on his posts. By the time I realized that I was a year behind, I’d come to enjoy Mark’s company. I enjoyed his writing and what he chose to write about. I enjoyed his sense of humor. And I enjoyed his pictures, most of them featuring him and Brian in front of various backdrops. It amused me that, despite the myriad of places these two had been, their pose was almost always the same. Mark on the right, Brian on the left, listing to port at an angle that suggests he’s holding the camera in front of them. They are always together. Always smiling.

Mark’s blog has a German title: “Zeitzeuge.” According to him, it is pronounced “ZITE-zoy-ga” and means “temporary witness to a specific time and place in history.” One of those wonderful German words. Although he never comments on the title’s significance, Mark is HIV positive. This is something he mentions only in passing, remembering pre-HIV times, but not something he dwells on. He is happy and active and fun.

Fast forward. August 2004 was a good time, but I decide to see what Mark is up to this year. The Sunday before last, he was tossed from a Sea Doo, on Monday he dodged a skin-head at the lunch counter, and on that Tuesday, he doubled over at work.

I’ve never met Mark. Never talked to him. He doesn’t know me, or know that I’m reading his blog. But when I read his entry on the 20th, my heart cinched. So for the rest of the week, I’ve been checking in. The pain he described last week sounded like kidney trouble, which is no fun for anyone, but there is a particular scare involved here as HIV meds have been known to cause kidney damage. So far, though, only kidney stones have been blamed. And I’m utterly relieved… for a complete stranger.

Oddly, though, I think Mark would get it. He’s a list maker and an over-thinker too. I think he’d appreciate that I was intrigued by the little things. His boyfriend named Brian. His trip to San Diego. His trip to Kansas City, where I went last year. His Texas to my Tennessee. His mother who won’t let him complete a sentence. His fondness for glass-making and photo taking and German words. Even his test results after peeing in a cup….

Get well, Mark. I’ll be reading.