Yes. The title of this post sounds like a Robert Ludlum novel.<\/p>\n
I have been spurred on to reveal this semi-embarrassing thing about myself because DeAnna was brave enough to write a post like this<\/a>. I recognize myself in a post like that. It’s been a while since I’ve gone a little bit crazy, but when I do go crazy? I break all the records. You never SEEN crazy like Sheila crazy!!<\/p>\n So her post describing her increasing hysteria (based only upon her own morbid imagination) reminds me of The Coma Contingency.<\/p>\n The Coma Contingency dates from … the mid-1990s. I was in love with someone. It didn’t work out causing me to go pretty much insane for … well, far too long. One of my dear friends at the time (I will not reveal her name … unless she steps forward and says: “I AM SHEILA’S PARTNER IN CRIME!” Because this story involves the two of us. But this is my blog, and I am only going to reveal MY secrets. It’s not up to me to reveal stuff about other people.) So anyway – one of my dear friends was also madly in love with someone. It didn’t work out. She and I were always scarily in sync. Romances for both of us would sometimes go in identical cycles. We would both be flying high, full of happiness, excitement, over our new relationships, and then – over the course of the SAME weekend – be full of tears and tragedy.<\/p>\n So this was one of those times.<\/p>\n We were both really really sad. We would sit around and talk about our lost loves. We would analyze. We basically just supported each other, and tried to move on.<\/p>\n And one of the ways we did that was to put in place a plan that we called The Coma Contingency.<\/p>\n The Coma Contingency existed for YEARS … and … er … man, it still may BE in place for all I know. We would reference it on occasion. 6 years later … “So … you still there for me with the Coma Contingency?” “Yup. No problem.”<\/p>\n So. Let’s create a hypothetical so that you can see how the Coma Contingency should <\/i>work.<\/p>\n I was madly in love with this guy. But he hadn’t even been my boyfriend. Not really. This put me in a VERY precarious position – (try to imagine being crazy, and then this will all make sense.) Let’s say I had a horrible accident and went into a coma. People would have to be notified, right? Parents called … friends … but … who would know to notify the guy I loved? He wasn’t in my address book. He didn’t exist – as far as my documentation was concerned. He wasn’t “in there”. This was VERY precarious – because if I were in a coma, I would DAMN well want him to know!! (Why? Oh, you know, because then he could rush to my side and be with me … or then — even though I would be in a coma and lost to the world, I believed that it was important for him to KNOW that I was in a coma – that somehow his KNOWING would change what it was like for me, in my coma-ness … I could go on, but I think it’s better if I stop talking right now) … The thought of me being in a coma and him going blithely about his business, unaware of my situation, was UNBEARABLE.<\/p>\n The same was true for my friend. We concocted this whole thing together, by the way. We were, of course, scarily in sync, in terms of our fears about being in a coma and having our ex-loves NOT know.<\/p>\n So. We came up with what we called The Coma Contingency. If I were in a coma, then she would know what to do. She would, no matter where she was, contact the guy I loved, and let him know. And if she were in a coma, then I would know what to do. Even if the coma happened 5 years hence. Come hell or high water, I would track down the guy she once loved, and let him know.<\/p>\n You see, too, how we assumed we would still NEED the Coma Contingency 5 years later. We created the Contingency in the freshness of our grief and loss, when we thought we would feel that way FOREVER.<\/p>\n But we promised: IF there were to be ANY comas … involving either of us … then the one left conscious had to PROMISE to track down the old flame … and let him know.<\/p>\n Trying to imagine that conversation.<\/p>\n Ring, ring …<\/p>\n “Hello?”<\/p>\n “Hi … I realize you’re married and have 3 kids now … and it’s been 15 years since you knew her … but just wanted to let you know that Sheila’s in a coma. Have a good day. Bye.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yes. The title of this post sounds like a Robert Ludlum novel. I have been spurred on to reveal this semi-embarrassing thing about myself because DeAnna was brave enough to write a post like this. I recognize myself in a … Continue reading