Part II Peppermint Schnapps and "Gasoline": It became a habit when visiting him at Hancock Park Hospital to bring a bottle of 90 proof (HAD to be 90 proof!) Hiram Walker Peppermint Schnapps. One of the first things I asked Robbin was 'Why Peppermint Schnapps? SURELY you don't actually LIKE it!' He said "Hell NO!...but it's the only thing I can get away with drinking in here...the nurses can't tell I've been drinking because it smells like I just brushed my teeth!" The nurses at Hancock Park were pretty strict about alcohol in the building so we had to be careful. When talking about it around anyone Robbin would say "Hey, can you bring me some gasoline?" His code word for booze. Isolation & Frustration: I HATE hospitals, as most people do, but from the beginning, I realized that he was extremely lonely & depressed. He told me 'Virtually no one comes to visit me....' He told me that the first day and I vowed to make sure that he had company at least once or twice a week. If I couldn't get away from work for a few days, I would ask a friend or family member to drop by if they could and just talk to him....that's all Robbin wanted...someone to talk to. He was too proud to ask for help or charity. He was in this place, confined to bed, 24 hours a day 7 days a week for over 2 years. Realistically the place was just a dumping ground for elderly people who were too sick or incapacitated for family to care for. I must say, they did take good care of the people there but it was a very depressing place to be...Robbin had at least 20 different roommates while I knew him.....I would show up one week & see an empty bed next to his and ask "what happened to Don?" RC would say "Oh him...he died yesterday." This went on week after week & after a while I stopped asking. I could see it in his face the effect it had on him but he wouldn't really express it. One thing that really shocked me at first...totally SHOCKED ME....was that his family rarely visited. Robbin talked on the phone to "Momma" or "Daddy" almost daily, but they live in La Jolla CA (about 100 miles south of LA near San Diego) and are "getting up there in age" & didn't travel to LA much. I sensed a lot from what Robbin DIDN'T say about his family, that he had put them thru a lot over the years and had "burned a few bridges." He was....as usual...pragmatic about it & understood. His attitude was "Oh, its just too far for them to drive..." He didn't ever say much about his family. One of the few things I know is, he was VERY fond of his father and "missed the vacations in Mexico with dad when I was a kid." Another thing that hit him really hard was that the guys in RATT would rarely come to see him...despite the fact that they all lived within a 1/2 hours drive. He would talk with them on the phone, sometimes Warren, sometimes Bobby, sometimes Juan, and he would hint around that "maybe if you are in the area you could swing by." They didn't... I'm not passing judgement on any of them. I'm sure they all have their reasons. He said to me one day "WHERE ARE all of my friends? No offense, but isn't it sad that YOU are my best friend? I've only known you a year." He had a way of cutting to the chase.... The only one of his old friends that did stop by often was his old friend "Zloz" ...Neil Zlozower. Nicknames and Mexican Food: Robbin LOVED Mexican food and Sushi....those were his 2 favorites. A couple of his favorite places in town were the famous El Compadre Restaurant on Sunset Blvd and Casa Vega on Ventura Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley. I would often call him before stopping by to ask if he wanted lunch. He would say "Mmmm...Ropa Vieja from El Compadre would do nicely..." or "Yeah, Get me some Toro & handrolls (sushi) from Yamakasa on Highland." He really was a connoiseur of food and the only thing he really DIDN'T like to eat was...PIZZA!! I couldn't believe it! He said "Nah...Pizza just plugs me up...for days!" He was big on nicknames. It seemed EVERYONE had a nickname. Mine was "Schmengie" or "Schmeckel"...I had NO IDEA what they meant until weeks later. It seems they are yiddish terms for the male organ!! We would be joking around & he would say "You're such a Schmengie" One of the nurses at the hospital was "Speedy" or the next week it was "Rompopie" or "Lima Bean." Another friend was "Bloomer." All of them were meant as terms of endearment and he had a million of them. A friend told me once that he sort of felt left out he didn't have one!! History Lesson: One day he was talking about the ancient Inca Indians from South America and I was fascinated listening to him tell me all about them...their culture, what they ate, how they lived etc. Now I know he was well-traveled...but the Incas!?!!! I must have been staring intently at him because he stopped suddenly and said "Are you OK?....or am I boring you?" I said "No I'm just surprised that you know so much about them." He said "Ahhh....you think I'm just some big dumb rocker who doesn't know how to read!! Actually you know, I'm fairly intelligent for my size. I'm smarter than the average bear!!" The Time of Day.... Looking back on my 2 short years knowing him, Robbin never ceased to amaze me with his intelligence, realistic outlook and pure honesty. He was definitely not the sort to sugar coat anything....he would always tell you EXACTLY what was on his mind!! We were talking about RATT's heyday and what it was like to tour the world & meet new people every day in different countries and I said to him, jokingly, "I bet that if I had approached you back then, as opposed to now, you wouldn't have given me the time of day." He stopped for a second and said VERY SINCERELY..."You know man...all kidding aside... you're probably right.... but you have to understand... back then, I didn't HAVE the time of day!!" Rather than patronize me & tell me what he would suppose I would want to hear...he was honest, forthright and directly to the point. Thinking back on that, I realized just how rare that kind of answer is.... Tawny Kitaen & the Rumpleminze Incident: I stopped by one afternoon to bring Robbin one of his 3 new guitars, A bright turquoise Epiphone Wildcat. I had them because there was no room at the hospital to store them. I walked in & froze in place... There was a pretty redhead sitting next to his bed. I said "You look really familiar..." Robbin without missing a beat says "Duh...it's Tawny, you idiot!" WOW! I have to admit having had a MAJOR crush on her back in the '80's (Remember the 'Back for More' video?) and there she was!! We talked for awhile and she showed a genuine concern for his condition, she hadn't seen him in almost 10 years!! Whatever personal problems she may be having, I'm here to say she is a sweet & caring person. Robbin called her his "high school sweetheart" and "first and only true love." After she left (Robbin had fallen asleep) one of the nurses found a bottle of Rumpleminze Peppermint Schnapps (a gift from Tawny) in a drawer and went ballistic...So I told her I would take it away. I had, some weeks before, stopped bringing 'gasoline' because I realized I wasn't helping him get any better by providing him with it. In fact, we argued about it. I told him "I'm not bringing you anymore gasoline...it's not helping you." He said "Oh...so you don't drink eh? Gimme a break!" in a very sarcastic & nasty 'King' tone. When Robbin inevitably went to look for the bottle HE went ballistic because it wasn't there. He exploded at the nurse for taking his gift. She didn't tell him that I had actually taken it. Robbin mentioned it to me one day and I felt like crap... I told him "She didn't take it...I did." He said "Dude...that was a GIFT from a very special person...you had NO right to take my shit, and another thing, I'll do WHAT the fuck I want, WHEN the fuck I want to!!" Indeed. Naturally, I still had the bottle and returned it to him. Here's the kicker. Robbin called me that night and apologized TO ME as if HE had done something wrong!! "Dude I'm sorry I shouldn't have been so harsh." That's just the way he was...I learned from him again, another important life lesson on compassion. Sweet Rosie: Robbin was a true animal lover. He once said "I probably love animals more than I love people, they love you without conditions." He was one of those people who just came totally unglued and would get all mushy when around animals...you know 'Awwww.....look at that beautiful dog". In the late 1980's shortly before he was married to Playboy Playmate Laurie Carr he got "Rosie," a sweet natured black labrador, as a pup. Rosie remained his constant companion throughout most of the '90's and he talked about her often. On one of our outings one day he saw a black dog sitting in front of a store and perked up "Oh my god...Is that ROSIE???....Rosie, here girl." It turns out it wasn't her, but I asked him "What ever happened to Rosie?" He got real quiet & after a couple of minutes of silence he said "I don't really know...I left her with a friend to take care of when I went into the hospital the first time....When I got out of the hospital, he said she had run away & I never saw her again, she was my best friend." I could tell he was getting emotional and his eyes were moist with tears. |