“Morning Paper and A Cup Of Coffee” Part 2 Chapter 80

**Please read part 1 chapter 79 before reading below. If you didn't, well, this will be like listening to a country song backwards. The dog lives and the wife comes home. If you have read it, then enjoy the rest of the story. **

Over the next few years, Darius and David stayed in touch with phone calls and letters. Like many Soldiers, though, they lost contact with each other over time.  It wasn’t until the internet became available that David was able to find Darius again.  The two of them picked up the conversation as if they had talked just the day before. Darius was a police officer with the NYPD and David had retired from the Army. David was also from NY, so they set up a visit where they all had a great time reconnecting.

A few more years passed and in the summer of 2014, Darius saw a post on Facebook with David getting ice water dumped on him and he said, “I challenge Darius.”  He didn’t have a clue what this was about so he looked it up. “The Ice Bucket Challenge was set up by three young men living with ALS, Anthony Senerchia, Pete Frates and Pat Quinn, who took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and inspired people around the world to dump ice water on their heads and donate to an ALS organization.”

This was the first time Darius had heard of ALS, and didn’t know anyone who had ALS, but thought it wasn’t the first time David called him out and he wasn’t backing down this time either. What he didn’t know then was how ALS would be a part of his life in the future. So it was all set. The bucket was full, the kids were ready to dump, and the camera was on. He remembered when the water hit him he suddenly couldn’t breathe, his body locked up even as his brain said "move!" and then he felt stinging as his body warmed up again. He thought if this demonstrated a fraction of what ALS feels like, he really could understand how horrible living with ALS is.

One day, while reading the morning paper with his cup of coffee, sitting in the chair David had given him years before, Darius saw an article requesting volunteers to donate their voice. “Volunteers needed to record their voice to be used with eye gaze technology. Eye gaze allows patients with ALS and other conditions who lost their voice to verbally communicate their written thoughts.” Remembering the Ice Bucket Challenge, he signed up to help. It seemed easy enough - read out loud a set of phrases one at a time. Why not? Once he was done he submitted the recordings and received a confirmation. All together it took about 30 minutes and he was done.

One evening in June 2022, the phone rang and Darius heard the voice of a woman. It was Laura, “Hello Darius, I know how close you and David are, and he asked me to tell you personally that he has ALS. He got the first symptoms after the Covid vaccine in April 2021, but the doctors confirmed the diagnosis today.” After a pause, Darius said with a crack in his voice, “I understand, thank you for letting me know. I am so sorry to hear the news.”  Over the next two years, Darius and David regularly kept in touch with each other through text. Darius made several visits to spend time with David, recognizing how his body was losing the muscle mass he once had, but grateful that his mind was sharp and he had developed a strong relationship with God.

In March 2023, David lost use of his hands to type and started using his new eye gaze technology. Part of the setup required him to choose a voice. Some of the voices available were “Karen, white woman who complains a lot.” Nope that’s not going to work. “Little Johnny, smart ass kid who talks back.” The smart ass was ok, but he’s not a kid. Celebrity voices, he thought that might work. “Ricky R, Hispanic man who ends every sentence with Lucy we have a problem.” He paused and thought how would it sound if he told Laura “I love you, Lucy we have a problem.” He laughed thinking that could be fun, but then kept searching. Finally he found “Darius, black man with a New York accent.” He pushed play to hear the example and it had a very familiar voice. He thought to himself, if he didn’t know any better, he could have sworn that it was the voice of his friend. He pushed select and Darius the eye gaze voice was born.

David used to tell Laura every time he heard the voice coming from the eye gaze that it gave him a peaceful feeling as he imagined Darius, sitting in his chair with the morning paper and a cup of coffee.

As Darius finished his coffee and reflected on a lifelong friendship with David, he realized he was smiling and the sun was shining again. He knew David would never want anyone to be sad about his passing or his fight with ALS. He once asked David, “How do you keep going and stay so positive when you know that ALS is a terminal disease?” David told him, “My family brings me love and happiness every day, and I am at peace. I was so worried about money and success before, and I almost forgot what the most important things in life are, and ALS has reminded me.” Darius folded up the paper, got up from his old chair, then looked up to the sky and winked

Love and Blessings