Chronicles of Living. John

John was a self proclaimed recluse who happened to have injured his self and landed in our extended care facility for a few weeks. He lived on an island off of Key West and traveled only to the "mainland" every so often for groceries, via a shifty skiff he had that the motor worked and got him where he needed going. He told me stories of how outstanding his cooking abilities were and that I should travel down sometimes to share a meal and a tour of his hidden secluded paradise. I'd kindly agree that maybe some day I would search out this little nook and join him for some yellow tail freshly prepared with garlic, lemon, and wine.... and some secret ingredient I could only assume was margarita, mainly because he reminded me of Mr. Key West himself, Jimmy Buffet and I hate fish or seafood. On one occasion the orthopedic surgeon and I were done with his rehab evaluation and John told us one of the coolest stories I ever would hear. I wish I could remember the details as it was quite an adventure living in John's universe, everything was always vibrant, quiet, and delicious. So this one evening, as I presume was summer, because the sun had not yet set in paradise. He was preparing his specialty over an open campfire, while the sky was clear blue, the breeze was off from the east and the calm of the sea, was never calmer. He was going about his business and hears a motor nearing his sanctuary, so looks to shore and on board is a gentleman who stated he had been on his larger vessel, off the shore of Key West and smelled something he couldn't quite get out of his head, and noticed John there on the island all by himself, preparing what was arguably the best smelling dish he'd ever smelled upon, and couldn't help himself but to abandon ship for the evening and ask if he could join him for dinner. John agreed and invited Bono to dinner. YEA you read right.... BONO. Bono of U2 fame was just pitter pattering on his yacht and decided to join him for dinner. He said they both enjoyed dinner and he was swiftly on his way after. As we left John, the surgeon said to me " you know that NEVER happened, right?" with a sheepish grin on his face, as this jackass continually hit on me and thought I was just some naïve 22 year old that clearly was just an object for him to accidentally graze my ass with his hand from time to time. I looked at him and said " ehhh, maybe it did. " and I went about my day. That evening getting ready to leave I checked on John to say goodnight. I walked in and he said " I heard what doc said". " I apologized and said, "he's a great ortho guy and fixed you up great, but he's a jackass." John laughed and said " yea I see the way he looks at you, but you know what I really did cook for Bono. " . I looked at him and said with complete honesty " I believe you did, not a doubt in my mind". Now, I don't care if the chap was lying, I don't care if that doc thought I was naïve. John had a great story he was so proud of and enjoyed sharing with the awe of his audience. He made dinner for Bono. Now, I also don't care if someone thinks I'm naïve or even less intelligent than them. Because I am able to live up to that every time and make them think they've got that upper hand, and then prove them completely wrong when they least expect it. In this life I've learned lots of things, and shock and awe sometimes can give the greatest satisfaction. Especially when it comes to the especially egotistical. Now any U2 fans out there that can think of a song about a guy on an island who makes kick ass yellow tail snapper penned by your guy, please let me know, because I'm fairly positive that this encounter meant as much to Bono as it did John, because John was a kick ass guy, and a pirate, I like to remember him as a pirate.