525,000...600 minutes
Time flies on….love
New York City….December 24,1991
Mark, Joanne, Maureen, Collins, and Benny were gathered in a hospital room not only to celebrate a birth, but to say goodbye to a beloved friend who was being taken before her time.
In the past year, things had changed dramatically.
Mark and Benny had reconciled and opened a quiet documentary film studio in Mark's apartment.
After dramatic public fights, Maureen and Joanne had finally become a fully committed couple and while Joanne practiced law, Maureen continually organized protests against injustice, which were highly talked about all throughout the vast city.
Collins, with the tender memories of his lover Angel on his heart, continued to educate closed minds.
The biggest change of all came to Roger and Mimi. After Mimi's near-death experience last year, her and Roger had, in full love and confidence, married in a quiet street ceremony with only friends, and a cheap minister, present.
While trying to get Roger's songs made into steady hits, Roger and Mimi, despite all odds, had managed to conceive a healthy child. Tonight, that child was going to see the world.
However, the decision to procreate came at a terrible price. During the pregnancy, Mimi's health took a turn for the worse, but she was determined to endure and let a child come into the world under her power.
Knowing that she would not live long after the child was born, she made Roger promise to not only raise the child, but also to rely on the love and support of his friends in being a father.
A baby's cry shattered the quiet. Roger stood close with his back to everyone but Mimi and the baby.
"Oh, Mimi, it's a daughter!"
"A daughter? Oh, a daughter to call ours."
"Sweeter than spring's coming flowers
"Our sweet little Angel Mimi."
"Roger, I won't have much longer,"
"Promise me you'll raise Angel Mimi."
"Raise her to grow to what she is meant to be."
"A spirit of unconditional love, wild, and free."
"Mimi, I will raise our daughter."
"Our little baby reminds me of you."
"As you pass through the veil of death."
"Let me first say, goodbye, I love you."
Roger leaned over and shares a tender kiss with his sweetheart, who lay in bed, on the brink of death. The monster illness had claimed another of its long suffering victims.
"Mimi! I love you, I'll raise our Angel…..goodbye…"
Letting out a sad sigh, Roger stood up, holding his and Mimi's daughter, Angel Mimi Davis, in his arms. He turned to his friends who crowded around the broken family and held them in a gentle, but firm, embrace.
