anna's alive and i choke on gum

brickyard mushroom & peppers pizza (flat crust this time, wierd), water, some halloween candy, a bowl of honey o's (yes, i was binging)

We're back at Aunt Anna's house on Osage in Bartlesville. A family reunion, and she's still alive. The interior is much more like the western half of my parents' house, though. In attendance are some Poppuirts, including little Andrew. Anna is far more elderly than I remember her ever being, but still trucking. She has two nurses that take care of her, always one around. But with all of us there, they have some days off. They get paid $100 a day, and my father thinks this is a rip off. But I think about it and figure that after taxes they take home money equal to a successful waitress. And they spend all day every day keeping our family member alive-- I think it's an acceptable price.

I'm walking past Anna's bedroom (now it's completely our old bedrooms at mom & dad's), she's asleep by the window (in what would be Eric's room), in a bed, propped up at a strange 45 degree angle. I start chewing a huge plug of gum. I look back and the two nurses are standing, looking at mom's computer. I take in a breath to talk to them, but instead inhale my gum, and in a panic try to swallow it, but only part goes down, then I try to gag it back up but can't. I resort to trying to grab the gum with my fingers and drag it back out of my throat. I tear off hunks, but am unsuccessful. The nurses think I am a doofy guy who swallowed his gum because I'm not any good at talking to women. This aggravates me. I still can't get it back out of my throat, and they (and I) are getting concerned. WIth hand gestures I assure them that I'm okay, continue to try to drag the goo out of my throat. Unsuccessful. Now I'm panicking. I can see in a mirror the gum just behind my tonsils. It's blue with red and white contentric circle center. I indicate that one of them should bang me on the back. She complies, the wad of gum jiggles, nothing more. I try to just swallow it. Swallow swallow swallow. It's working.