Held Prisoner in Hampton Roads

Catharsis . . .

One of my employees at the Naval Base, an Italian national named Gino, had a serious heart attack on Saturday.  He has had surgery, and is still in intensive care.  While I don't have all the details, he may have suffered major heart damage as a result of the attack.


Last week, he complained of pains in his left arm and shoulder, and we begged him to go to the hospital.  He went, but the the ER ran a cardiogram, said nothing was wrong, and sent him home the same night.  Three days later, he was rushed to the hospital.


Gino is a sincere, smart and thoughtful human being, and a joy to work with.  He also has one of the wryest senses of humor on the planet.  In less than a year, he has become one of my best friends in Italy. 


He lives in San Giorgio a Cremano, near the slopes of Vesuvius.  We can see the volcano from our office, and Gino and I have been kidding each other that if Monte Vesuvio erupts, someone will eventually see us in a museum like those plaster casts in Pompeii.  That may sound a little dark and strange, but that's Gino's sense of humor. 


No one who reads this will know Gino, so the real reason I'm writing this is explained by the first word above.  I had to put my words down on paper - so to speak.