The day after we secured our lease on the Aventura loft was Halloween. 

We were still staying in Coconut Grove for one more night, and then the next day, we’d be moving to a new hotel where Lou would be staying on his own while I drove over to Sarasota to orchestrate the details of our move. 

Lou might not have had the ability to do a lot of heavy lifting, but he pretty much did everything else. He secured movers, a truck, and negotiated a flat rate for their services. Then, he called to have our electric turned on in our new place on our move-in date, and, he scheduled an appointment for a cable company worker to install the TV and wifi services. The soonest we could set up that service appointment was ten days after our move-in date.

See? It’s always something in Miami!

It had been a very full 24-hours for us, and Lou and I were in need of a little levity. It seemed like Lou was having a better day with the bladder spasms, and I think knowing that there was an end in sight to our vagabond days really lifted both of our spirits. So we decided to take a short stroll from our hotel room into the heart of Coconut Grove. Our plan was to get a cheap dinner, do a little people watching, and then crash for the night in our quiet hotel room.

But things were anything but quiet that night.

When we turned down the main street leading into the heart of Coconut Grove, the area was wild with people dressed up for Halloween. There were slutty nurses, sexy vampires, and lots and lots of men dressed up as “Adam and Steve” wandering around everywhere you looked! Lou and I clung tightly to one another because, honestly, the atmosphere felt intense and creepy that night. It was early, but people were already drunk, and many of the costumes looked dark and evil. 

We finally stopped to get a couple of slices of pizza at an open-air shop. Lou ordered a Hawaiian pizza with ham and pineapple, and I’m sure I ordered my normal slice of pepperoni. I mostly remember feeling like we should hurry and get back to the room. The vibrations of the night were too intense for my taste, and I sincerely wanted to snuggle into the hotel bed and imagine how I was going to arrange our furniture in our new place. 

Lou seemed to have had enough of the festivities as well, and so after we ate, we slowly made our way back to our hotel room. Once we were nestled into our bed, I realized that we were not going to have a quiet night that night. People were screaming and shouting in the parking lot, and sirens were blaring all night. The next day, I heard on the news that a man was stabbed to death a few blocks away from our hotel room — which was chilling to hear. 

But even before I knew about the stabbing, I have this strong recollection of how restless and angry everything outside of our hotel door felt. So I guess because it was so noisy outside, it took me a lot longer to realize that things were restless and scary inside of our room, too.

Lou was sick… Really sick.

On top of a bleeding schmeckle, and a fresh new wave of bladder spasms, Lou was experiencing a good old-fashioned case of food poisoning. (Hawaiian pizza was a huge mistake — one Lou has never made again.) When I finally figured out that the moaning I was hearing was coming from the bathroom, I checked in on Lou. 

He looked like the shadow of death was hovering directly over his head…