The ships are lying in the bay,
The gulls are swinging round their spars;
My soul as eagerly as they
Desires the margin of the stars.
-Zoe Akins
Hmmm, how to start? This kind of thing is so much easier in character. Well, I was born in Southern California, although I didn’t stay there for too long before we moved up here to Spokane. I think I was about 3 at the time. My parents divorced then and my father moved off to places unknown. Until I was about 12 I occasionally got a birthday card from him, but after that I have no idea what happened. Might be dead, might be alive. I’m out of the loop.
I have no brothers or sisters, which can be a bonus. My mother married again when I was 8 and he was really nice, I liked him a lot. Unfortunately, he liked to drink and didn’t think that impeded his driving. So he and a light pole had an intimate, face to face debate that the light pole won. That was when I was 13. My mother gave up on marriage at that point. She was never really all that talkative, so I had to entertain myself a lot. And she didn’t like kids over at the house too much so I spent what time I could at other people’s houses. That and the dance studio. I started taking dance lessons around the age of 10 and I loved them. I still dance as much as I can and sometimes I teach a class or two.
I was 17 when I met Evan at school. We became friends and he always seemed to find something to tease me about. We were both dating someone else at the time, so we didn’t really consider going out with each other. Well, not until my boyfriend decided that having only one girlfriend was a waste of time so he took on two others. I found out and got very upset and Evan was there for me. He and his girlfriend came to a parting of the ways not long after and from then on it was me and him. We got married when I was 20 and it’s a perfect marriage. I get along very well with his mom and his sister Gayle, his other sister and his brother I get along with all right too, although since there were some differences between the siblings I haven’t really seen or talked to them in some time. Which really is fine.
Inevitably, Randy came with the package when Evan and I got together. Even though they are so very different, they have one of the strongest friendships I’ve ever seen. They really are very good for each other and I love to watch them together. When push comes to shove, they are there when needed. Not only for each other, but for all of us.
Oh, Evan does not get along very well at all with my mother, very few people actually do. Although he takes it a step further and purposely antagonizes her. I try to keep peace, but I always end up taking Evan’s side since my mother is not exactly Little Mary Sunshine. Evan and I have two children now, daughters. Bridget is 10 and Kayla is 8. They have their dad wrapped around their little fingers, which is really no surprise. This group that I have been hanging out with for so long really is a terrific one, the people are great. We have a lot of fun together and we’ll be friends for life. It would be great if everyone could have at least one friendship like all of us have together. I think then that the world would be a better place.
So live that you can look any man in the eye and tell him to go to hell.
-Anonymous
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.
-Helen Keller
