Monte Cristos

 

Monte Cristos

Noel Laflin

4-8-25

 

Ryan White died thirty-five years ago today. He was only eighteen years old - just a month shy of his high school graduation. We, along with much of the world, had been following the boy's trials and tribulations. He even had Elton John in his corner, speaking on his behalf - shaming the ignorant.

 

Jeremy and I were sitting in the Katella Deli in Los Alamitos when I read the headline in the newspaper I had brought with us.

 

Jeremy saw the headline, too, and began to cry.

 

"Will that happen to us?" he asked.

 

"I don't know, love."

 

Our meal arrived a moment later, two mouthwatering Monte Cristo sandwiches with a generous side of strawberry jam.

 

We dug in.

 

But the question lingered.

 

Jeremy died five years later. He had nearly wasted away during the last year. It would have taken a lot of fattening Monte Cristo sandwiches to have helped remedy the situation, but he had no appetite by then.

 

He was only thirty-three years old.

 

So, I guess we got the answer to part of his question.

 

But there was no headline in the morning paper. I'm pretty sure Elton was not aware of his passing either.

 

But I was.