Looking up my Past

 Another friend that I had back in the day was Lin.  We were very close, but not close enough.  The seven years I was in Colorado we remained friends, but when I returned to Berkeley, we began having problems.  I was sick of dealing with alcoholics.  I hadn’t even understood that she was.   She told me she was in love with me, but the next time she saw me she was in love with Bill.  Her emotions were irrational.  I finally told her I was tired of dealing with alcoholics, and suggested we stop seeing each other for a while.  I knew I gravitated towards alcoholics, and I was sick of it.  So, we stopped corresponding, and I began seeing Sharon without seeing Lin.  It was the best thing I had ever done.  Our relationship blossomed, and I could deal with Sharon because she was not an alcoholic.

Even after Sharon moved to Washington, after she retired, we have remained close and have taken many trips together.  It helps that Edmonds is a great place for her.  She first lived in Tacoma, but she wasn’t happy, and when she moved her whole life perked up.  She has her son, Daughter-in-law and two granddaughters 20 minutes away, and she’s made a lot of new friends.  She now lives in a condo right downtown, where she can walk to town, to the bank, the library and the waterfront.  It is a cheerful place and caters to the elderly.  Her granddaughters, 11 and 13, are deeply involved with her and she is funnier and freer than she has ever been.  What a difference the move has made.  And Now I have my younger son living in Seattle, with his wife and child, Auggie, so it’s a piece of cake to see them both.

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