But thank you all for your kind words. I really appreciate it.

My dad did a great painting of Jake,which we still display. We now have Magic,who is my sister’s pride and joy(even when he acts up). You’ll never be able to replace Blue in your heart but when the time is right,you will be able to let him go.

I truly sympathize. I still miss my buddy Fletcher. He was a brother, not a pet. He certainly considered himself that way. What’s worse was I didn’t realize how ill he had become in his later years and couldn’t believe how callous my parents were to be “in charge” like that. My last time seeing him, I certainly understood then. He desperately wanted to get out of his beanbag chair to see me, but his body just wasn’t capable. It was quite an ordeal for my parents and I.

After a bit, a woman who was rather butch in appearance(bartender called her ’sir’ from behind) sat a few seats over. She told the bartender she was in town for a Border’s manager’s meeting.

So, now I’m curious, but I hate meeting people. To put that to a fact, the other day on the plane, the guy sitting across the aisle from me for three hours, flipped open his laptop, opened a word doc that quite clearly said ‘Chapter 1′ and I said nothing to him.

Anyway, I think I made progress today. It took me fifteen minutes to decide to do it, but I said hi and I broke the ice. I said “Whacha wha, uh, the nuts, do you, uhhhhhh — Barry Lyga has a book coming out. Huh?”
She responded, “Don’t kill me you psychotic worm,” and pointed her fruit spear stick thingy from her drink at me
as a means of defense or something like that.

I am sad to report that she was the inventory manager and she didn’t have Barry’s name memorized. Unfortunately, she was too nice to let this one failing make her a bad person.