I'm miserable

But I'm hiding it so well, so no one is worried.  My neighbor (and friends) Doug and Jean are moving to Eastern Australia, and have taken their beautiful dog, Heidi, along.  As much as I do understand they're going because they're going because Doug's parents are in their early 90s, so want to spend as much time with them as possible.

For me, it means my isolation is almost complete.  I would go out on photo forays with her, go to her house for a cup of tea, and a bit of nattering. 

I'm having a hard time with not hearing Heidi greeting the passers-by.  It's too quiet.

My Memorial to Jared Johnson.

My Memorial to Jared Johnson​

I first met Jared, almost 28 years ago, when he was, 17, and the sys-op of "The Cat's Meow" BBS.  His handle was RedWolf.  Despite our age differences, we did become great friends.  He and my oldest son, Paul, were very close, more like brothers than just friends.  Alan, my youngest son, called him Uncle Jared.

This friendship held true. When Paul went to CT for vacation, Jared was the one that picked him up at the bus station. And Jared was there again, when Paul moved back up to Connecticut. Jared was there for me when I left an abusive husband.

I moved to NY, and was doing ok, until an injury and job loss threw everything into a tail spin. Because I had no income, I had eviction proceedings, and the state of NY were circling to take Alan away because I would have no home, no food. I made a frantic phone call. Paul and Jared came to NY and picked Alan up and brought him to where his brother lived with Jared, in CT. Those social workers were pissed off because I told them Alan was with his brother. They demanded to know what his name was and where he was. I replied "Paul is an adult, 19 years old, and Alan's legal guardian if in case of my not being able to care for him. I know if you got your hooks into him, it would be a cold chance in hell for me get to him back." Yeah, they were pissed off.

After I got myself squared away, we kept in touch over Yahoo, ICQ and AIM all the time.. well, spare time.

Even when I moved to Australia, we retained that contact. Then AIM vanished, and ICQ for all intents and purposes cacked it, too. Skype came in handy, but the time difference made for interesting schedules for calls.

So, there was Facebook posts, Yahoo (until they shut down)  and  FB Messenger. He never once mentioned he was ill. Not once. I'm of two minds about that; one, that I wouldn't have been able to do anything to help, and two, I would have moved heaven and earth to see him before left us. Paul said I'm better off remembering him the way he was, in the photo I have of him.

And with much tears, typing through 'salty goggles', is the synopsis of my friendship with Jared. I loved him dearly, as if he were one of my own. My original "Un-Son". I will miss his kindness, his sensitivity, his sense of humor. The world is a less bright place without him here.

Be at peace.

The Un-Xmas BBQ

Went up to Gary and Emily's place for a BBQ. Good friends getting together one more time before the end of the year.

We need to get the back yard cleaned of leaves, then get the house clean, and host one of these ourselves. But with Wing 's knee right now, and my back, there is no way we could get the grunt work done.