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My cousin Tom is not a “Norwegian Bachelor Farmer”, he is a “Norwegian Bachelor House Painter”,  retired.  When I lived in Upsala, I owned a house that was built in 1892 as the Swedish Mission Church parsonage.  The siding is original cedar and as long as you keep it painted, it will last forever.  Tom lived with his folks in a house across the church cemetery. He was my designated painter.  His father died 17 years ago and his mother, Auntie to me, died six years ago.

Living alone has a few disadvantages, one of which is, if you fall and can’t get up, it will be a few days before someone comes to check on you.  On Sunday November 2^nd  Tom was taken to St. Cloud Hospital. It was discovered that he had a brain tumor that had caused a seizure that put him on the floor in his upstairs bedroom.  When I got to his hospital room on Monday the 4^th, he had the three nurses rolling in the aisle.  His personality had been effected by the tumor and he would not stop talking, calling the nurse whose name was Sara,  “Sister Sara”.  He remembered that name from a Clint Eastwood movie.

Because I live in town, I usually was the first to visit him. On Wednesday when I got there he was barely breathing.  I put my hand on his chest and said, “hold on Tom, your sister and brothers are on their way”.  We were sure that he would be leaving us soon.  On Thursday he opened his eyes and greeted his brother John.  When I got there on Friday morning he was wide awake and when the nurse heard me talking to him, she came in and asked Tom if he was hungry.  Tom asked for ice cream.  I told him that we all had given up on him and explained that as I understood it, if he chose to live he would be facing some serious surgery with a high risk.

Tom usual dry sense of humor had returned.  In his words:  “I have never died before, I don’t know how to do it”.   Tom decided to have the surgeries.  He had a baseball sized tumor removed two days ago.  Last night Tom looked pretty rough, but he chose to fight this thing and we are all hoping for the best.

Live from Here this week is a live show from The Town Hall in New York City. Special guests include “They Might Be Giants”,   Big Thief, Aoife O’Donovan, the cast of Betrayal, Marina Franklin and DW Gibson. Enjoy the show.

“I have never died before, I don’t know how to do it”.  Tom Hagstrom