StoryCorps: Jesus Papoleto Melendez

From: StoryCorps
Series: StoryCorps
Length: 01:39

Jesus Papoleto Melendez remembers Nuyorican poet Pedro Pietri's final moments in an air ambulance from Tijuana in 2004. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: StoryCorps: Jesus Papoleto Melendez
From: StoryCorps

Melendez_small "He went somewhere. You could see it. And there was no pain. There's a quiet dignity in there." Aired on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show 8/04.

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Piece Description

"He went somewhere. You could see it. And there was no pain. There's a quiet dignity in there." Aired on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show 8/04.

Broadcast History

Aired on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show 8/04.

Transcript

JM: We took off and as were ascending, before we had leveled off, our level off point was 45 thousand feet so before we had leveled off Pedro began leaving us and uhthe beauty about it is that I believe that theres something after life, you could see it in Pedro. Pedros eyes where open when he was leaving and when he was leaving you see him like no longer paying attention to us although we were yelling and screaming and telling him to stay in this little plane, you know? His eyes although open and looking at me, were focused somewhere else deep inside his head, thats who he was paying attention to, thats where he was going, he went somewhere, you could see it, and there was no pain, theres a quiet dignity in that. And y know hey, y know I hated to see my friend go, I loved my friend very much, I miss him as all hell, but that, that shit was beautiful, that was profound. I had no idea...
Read the full transcript