The Needle Whisperer

I found out tonight that I lost a friend. We didn't see each other a lot, but I always loved it when he was around, and he had a sweetness and grace that touched everyone. 

His name was Alberto. I first met him a number of years ago, when I started giving platelets after a lifetime of donating whole blood. My first platelet donation was pretty painful, and I cried because it hurt so badly when the nurses were setting it up, but I didn't want to fail. Alberto came over to see what was happening, and in a flash he slid the needle in, and I barely felt it. From then on, I requested him whenever I could. He was my Needle Whisperer.

He passed last week, of an apparent heart attack. I don't know much about his personal life, but he was on the young side, and I know that he had such a kindness and quiet competency about him that his was a very lucky family to have had him - and they must be experiencing that gaping space that's left when someone who was pure love and goodness is gone. 

I'm writing because I don't know what to do with all this sudden sadness, and I'm sitting here with a lump in my throat that I cannot seem to melt. Since I didn't know of his passing in time to honor him at his funeral, I'm putting this out to the Universe: Alberto B. was a wonderful, shining, perfect soul, and I hope you will take good care of my Needle Whisperer. 

© 2017 A Bit of Brie/Anitabrie