5/9/2015
We had been gaining some great momentum. My muscles felt like they were made from iron fibers, my message was reaching plenty of kids, and our job of contacting press had gotten easier. But after my appearance at the Shriner’s Hospital in Philadelphia things began to go downhill. The problems began like a pebble trickling from a hill. They ended up crashing down like an avalanche.
Crystal had come into contact with a sick person and for a couple of days, it seemed that I had successfully protected myself from the germs. Our trailer, the equivalent of a walk in closet in size, must have trapped a couple of those little bugs because they finally found me. The bug was not very powerful but it was annoying. At the beginning I dismissed the irritation as allergy to pollen. All organisms have the ability to grow stronger over their life span.
The first day in Jersey was like a shot of adrenaline in my veins. The excitement of crossing into another state was enough to battle the sore throat. By the time we reached Edison, I was begging for a special herbal syrup that could only be found in Asian supermarkets. It was a magical elixir from my childhood that always seemed to cure my ailments. Funny enough the Asian American community in New Jersey was big enough to warrant such a supermarket. At that point, both Crystal and I were too debilitated to even think about preparing a meal. We chose to eat Korean tofu soup. We figured the bubbling hot broth and spicy flavor would be good. It was probably the Asian equivalent to good old chicken soup. The dinner gave us enough energy to search the supermarket next door for the magical product. We walked through aisle after aisle. Even the employees failed to help us in our search. Just as we were about to abandon the notion of consuming this healing drink, the little box called to me. It was right by the checkout.
The germs peaked and I kept pushing forward. I could practically taste the end of stage two. We pushed through Elizabeth, New Jersey and the roads suddenly looked very familiar. I was on the exact same road I had run on four and a half years ago. At that time, I neared the end of my journey. This time I neared the halfway point. As we inched closer and closer to the Big Apple, we took a break at a supermarket. We agreed to take separate roads because of all the one way streets. This was one of those decisions that would cause a change in our plans. Just moments my feet began to move a ringing sound emerged from my pocket. On the other end of the line was Crystal. I could tell she was hysterical from her inability to articulate her situation. I could hear the sounds of people in the background yelling, cursing, and honking their horns. She had driven our home on wheels under a low clearance bridge, taking out our air conditioner in the process. It was a devastating blow and it affected my ability to push forward.
We slept ten miles away from Fort Lee. Although the ruckus caused by all the semi-trucks didn’t contribute to my rest. The various problems compounded and weighed on my conscious like a sack of bricks. I didn’t know which problem actually caused the throbbing in my head. I had an interview on a popular station in New York and New Jersey. I was up at six a.m. talking live trying my best not to sound fatigued.
That morning I tried apply a temporary fix to our roof before a quick ten miles to Fort Lee. My breathing was labored. I didn’t feel as if the hills were very challenging but when I began to spit out viscous material from my respiratory tract, I knew the remnants of illness were surrendering to my superior immune system. With each passing step my chest felt better. When my feet had just about reached Crystal I hit yet another barrier. The map had guided me to a location across the street from where Crystal was parked. I meant the location was across the Freeway with a fence in the middle. I did what I had to do. I ran to the middle when I found a large gap in traffic and I waited in the median. The second gap carved out a window of several seconds for me to climb the fence and dart across to our support vehicle that was probably in worse shape than me. The mishaps all peaked out when we found another screw driven into our tire. At least it was the only tire that we had not yet replaced. There was only one thing to do at that point.
We unhitched the trailer, drove into the city, and found a gym in Harlem that let us have a hot shower. Over the four days of illness, we didn’t have a single hotel donation, or a place to clean up. I sat under the hot water and let the liquid heal my soul. I shaved off all my hair and I cleaned every inch of my body. After that, the city called. Crystal and I had a date with central park, old friends, and some real nightlife.
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