When life is long, friends are lost. They are lost through a move, new job, lost address in the address book and some are lost through death. Those that are left are very precious to me. Those people know what life was like in the old neighborhood. They lived in the same type house I lived in. They walked the same halls of the elementary school and high school. They wore the same clothes. We played in the same vacant lot and skated at the roller rink together. Over time, they suffer setbacks, divorces, loss of parents. Life happens, both the good and the bad.
I've written about the wonderful reunion with the Cambridge Street gang. Cambridge represents the elementary school years. Now I've found another group, the ones I went to high school with. Barbara and I are emailing each other. It doesn't matter that We are living at opposite sides of the country, We are now in touch. Barbara answered the questions that have remained unanswered all these years. I know that Diane died in her 20s, but I did not know that Colleen and Marilyn were also deceased. One couple had a good marriage. They stayed faithful to each other for 50 years. Bruce is now a widower. I had a crush on Bruce in high school . He played the Hammond Organ for special assembly in the auditorium. He was good. He played in church and I think, He played at restaurants when having live music was the thing.
One thing I never saw coming, was the deterioration of special friends. It makes me pause and bow my head.

Spence took me out to a play this evening. It was local talent at our local art house. The production wasn't NYC Broadway, but it was pretty interesting. We went with Doug and Janice...good company.
After the play, Spence asked Doug and Janice if they wanted to come with us to get something to eat. They declined, so Spence and I are preparing to go to the diner by ourselves. Doug and Janice take off in Doug's truck. Now, We are all alone.
Spence has a big van. After Doug left, the van gave us trouble.
The burglar alarm started and would not let us start the car. Spence tried many different ways, but We could not keep the van running.
Spence never locks his van. Since We were in public parking, He locked it for the first time. When We returned to the van, after the play, He unlocked the passenger door to let me in. I, in turn, reached over and unlocked the driver's side door for Spence. Boy was that a big mistake.
Imagine being stuck in a parking lot, every one has gone home and your horn won't shut up. Spence tried every button on his key ring. The Van kept beeping.
Then, I realized I had opened his door manually. Spence got out. He locked everything with the tab on his key ring. I did not open anything manually. He pressed the fob to deactive the alarm and it worked!
We went to the diner . The only noise in the air was our conversation. The horn was silent. At the diner, Spence said,"This time, I am not locking the doors." He didn't.

I was weak. I bought a cake from the grocery store. I love that brand of cake...moist, flavorful , with wonderful frosting. There it sits on the kitchen table defrosting. My mouth wants some. My tummy wants some. The bathroom scales says, "Don't eat the cake."
There is the dilemma. Why do companies make yummy things that are bad for us, make us fat, clog our arteries, do bad things to our bodies? I want some anyways. (They make it because when I buy it, they make money.)

This mode of thinking reminds me of other things that I love that I should not have. When I was a child, my father bought me an all day sucker. It was as big as a saucer. It did last all day...licking some and biting off pieces to crunch. The result of this wonderful experience was my teeth were bathed in sugar for over 8 hours. The dentist loves children who eat all day suckers.

Soda is sweetened with corn syrup. I am allergic to corn. I drink the stuff anyways. This makes me sick...a classic case of an addiction to what I should not have. I change to diet soda only to learn that the chemicals that sweeten the soda are now suspect. ...a cancer cause? The final solution to this problem is one quart of tap water to the juice of one lemon, sweetened with Stevia. This stuff is pretty good.

Red meat is on the list. There is nothing like a juicy prime steak, cooked over charcoal to perfection. Eat it and you die. If the carcinogens from the blackened fat plus charcoal don't get you, then the fat in the meat goes right to your arteries, causing a heart attack. Eat a lot of that stuff and you've increased your probability to colon cancer.

In late May, I harvest strawberries grown in my own back yard. They are delicious. When my own patch is bare, I buy them at the grocery store. Unfortunately, strawberries are heavily laced with pesticides, as are most fruits.

In summer, heaven is ice cream . It doesn't matter if it is in a cone or in a dish or between two cookies. The cool treat is pleasure. The more butterfat, the better the ice cream. I like all flavors. I especially love it under a blanket of hot fudge or any topping. Then I found out I was allergic to cow's milk. That wonderful ice cream gives me clogged sinus or a runny nose and a headache. I cough to clear my throat for the next 24 hours. The awful truth is ice cream isn't good for me. It causes an allergic reaction. The fat content leads to unwanted pounds. The sugar in it does the same thing. I have to eliminate ice cream from my diet. Darn it.

Wait a minute. There are some very acceptable substitutes out there. In my local health food store, I found a frozen product made from soy. It is milk free, smooth on the tongue and tastes wonderful.

Have I found the solution to eating problems? Soy is a good protein. In many dishes, it is a wonderful substitute for meat. It is the basis for that good tasting ice cream substitute. Then comes the crusher. Most soy in the United States is genetically manipulated. Our soy beans are banned in many countries. What am I eating when I eat soy beans? What is in them and where does it come from? DNA from where? I will ask the lady at the health food store if she can get soy beans that are not genetically modified. Nothing is labeled, so I don't know for sure. I do know she said that her soy beans are genetically modified.

Fried foods: When I am out doing errends, I stop at the nearest fast food place to pick up lunch. Almost the entire menu is fried, or sugar loaded. I order the mandarin chicken salad. Not perfect, but better than the burgers with bacon and cheese.

It is hard to get good food in the United States. Maybe I will turn my backyard into a mini farm.

In the meantime, the cake is defrosted and tea is ready.