Another Day, Another Anniversary...Of Sorts

Every once in awhile, I catch myself thinking, "Huh. I haven't heard from Andy in awhile. It's about time."

That was just how it went with us.

For most of our relationship, I rarely knew where he was at any given time so it was always up to him to call me when he was near a phone.

This, of course, was back in the day when there were no cell phones except for the ridiculous ones like Richard Gere was seen using in Pretty Woman and there was no such thing as free long distance or Skype.

I gladly bore the brunt of the expense of those sporadic calls. It was about all we had much of the time.

I used to worry about him a lot.

Worried that he was in jail...

Or dead.

But, he always seemed to know when he needed to call me and reassure me that he was, in fact, still alive and free to roam the streets of the Inland Empire.

I did have a scare once.

It was during a time when we weren't together having gotten into yet another awful fight and ugly words were exchanged. We hadn't talked since then.

So when the collect call originated from a hospital with a southern California area code, I panicked...and thought twice about picking up the phone.

He was alive.

Mugged.

Stabbed.

But alive.

And I was thankful.

I used to play with that scar, tracing it with my finger. It was sensitive - almost painful even years later. Still...I would torment him and giggle and laugh when I'd get the inevitable intake of breath and exclamation to knock it off.

He used to read to me for hours...and sing to me for hours.

He had this incredible voice - a deep, rich, baritone that always rang true. He never had any dreams of using his ability in a professional way - even though I encouraged him to explore his options of which he could have had many - but he was never shy about sharing his gift with me in our own private concerts.

He was so very funny. He could make me laugh like very few others can. We could make each other laugh with just a look filled with our own inside jokes of which I'm not even sure we knew what they were.

He had the ability to work magic where the rest of the world fell away when we were together...most of the time. When he couldn't, well...

That's when it would get bad.

And it could get really really bad.

It got really really bad...before it was beginning to get better.

Still...

I haven't heard from him in awhile.

I wish he would call me.

I wish he could call me.





A year ago: We Interrupt This So-Called Life Broadcast
                He's Gone