A Valentine's Day Tragedy
It was April Fools day in 2008 when Sonny Graham disappeared into the shed and locked the door.
Hi,
Two years ago I sent this very newsletter you’re about to read out to paying subscribers.
I think about it every Valentine’s Day, and wanted to share it with you today.
All my public interest journalism is free, but I tend to keep the whacky stuff for paying subscribers. This is an example of that, I guess.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
David.
The Heart Wants What The Heart Wants
Cheryl Sweat had been unlucky in love. But she was about to get lucky.
She’d been happily married for three years. Unfortunately, her husband was also married to someone else.
When Cheryl found out about her husband’s second life, she was no longer happy. She asked for a divorce. Her husband agreed — and they divorced. She was free.
Free to meet the real love of her life.
The real love of her life ended up being Terry Cottle. Terry loved Cheryl back, and they were married in May of 1989. Cheryl was delighted to find that Terry happily accepted her two sons, Chris and Timmy. They decided to have a third child, and Jessica was born.
It was heaven. Until it wasn’t.
Cheryl’s mother moved in, and around this time Terry started becoming more distant. He started calling his ex. They’d have long conversations on the phone, late into the night.
Things escalated and there was a big fight. At one point, Terry ran into the bathroom and locked the door. There was a gunshot.
It was a revolver. One shot to the head.
According to the coroner’s report, Cheryl was eating oatmeal in the kitchen at the time.
Terry wasn’t quite dead, and was raced to the hospital.
But less than a week later Terry was taken off life support. It was the end of the road for Terry.
Terry was dead, but his heart was alive. It was removed from Terry’s body, and put into the body of Sonny Graham.
Sonny was 57-years-old, and he’d been waiting for a heart in need of a new home. He’d been a wreck since his own heart had been ravaged by a virus, leaving him bedridden and pathetic.
Sonny was over the moon with his new heart. He got to hunt and fish again, blood coursing through his veins anew.
Terry was dead, but Sonny got to live.
The heart beat on.
Sonny wanted to thank someone for his new heart. The heart’s owner was dead, so Sonny chose the second best thing: The heart’s love, Cheryl.
He agonised over what to write, but finally settled on the right words in the right order. He sent his letter to the South Carolina Organ Procurement Agency, and got them to pass the message onto Cheryl.
Cheryl got the letter, and she agreed to meet him.
Cheryl and Sonny fell in love. Cheryl, Sonny and Terry’s old heart moved in together a month before 9/11.
The heart wants what the heart wants — and this particular heart wanted Cheryl Sweat.
The heart’s original vessel was long rotted in the ground. But now it had a new body called Sonny. Sonny would have to do.
The heart sensed something was wrong.
For a while, things had been so right: Surgeons had correctly attached the aorta and superior and inferior vena cava into Sonny’s body. Oxygen was flowing in and out just like it had in Terry’s body. Maybe even better.
The heart was fine, but something else was up.
Maybe the heart was paranoid: Its last host had shot himself in the head.
Something was off.
Something was up.
It was April Fools day in 2008 when Sonny Graham disappeared into the shed and locked the door.
The heart began beating faster. Last time it had been a bathroom. This time it was a shed.
Different location; same outcome.
Sonny picked up a gun, pointed it at his head, and pulled the trigger.
The heart wants what the heart wants. But unlike last time, the jig was up.
The heart had loved Cheryl Sweat for nearly two decades, from two different bodies.
But like any idiot can tell you, you need more than a heart to love somebody.
The heart beat a few last times, and then it stopped forever.
That’s the story. A few different outlets covered it at the time — CBS is the best I’ve found, and I referenced it a lot in the story I just told.
You could read this as evidence of cellular memory: the concept that cells in the body can hold memories, just like the brain can.
There are plenty of stories — including this one — that contain reports of people’s personalities and thoughts changing drastically after receiving an important new organ. Suddenly, someone who’s received a new body part starts liking the same beer that the donor did.
All woo, of course — but it’s fun to think about.
Have a great weekend,
David.