Help! (Updated 7/27/14)

It was the Spring of 1970 and I was traversing the sward in front of the Denver Museum of Natural History on my way to the Idaho wilderness. There, under a tree, sat a young (16) red-haired woman (Irish, no less) who, three days later as she was enthusiastically leading me by the hand to my friend's apartment where we were going to make love, said, "I have to tell you, I'm a virgin." Unsure how to respond, I acknowledged I'd never made love with a virgin before. Her reply was, "Well, there's a first time for everything."

1998

She lives in Palmer, Alaska and has been a paralegal with the Alaska Office of Victim's Rights 
(domestic violence and other crimes) for almost a decade. Today (4/2/14) she called and said she'd started a new, 12-week treatment to cure, not mitigate, but CURE the hepatitis C that has plagued her for years. She doesn't have medical leave and is determined to keep her job, but the medications are debilitating and she had to pause to vomit before closing the conversation. She was leaving for work in Anchorage, 45 miles away.

She used up all her medical leave last year when she went under the knife for 9 hours to have a painful, spinal deformity corrected; Bob, her husband, helped her through that one, but now she doesn't get paid except when she works.

Bob is a self-employed auto-body repair person and underwent back surgery three weeks ago. He'll be laid low for at least three months if not longer. He'd put off the surgery as long as he could in order to help keep them afloat, but we're all getting older and it was time. 

Michele (One El, as she's known), a major love of my life, once said, after I'd made & served Thanksgiving dinner, that I'd have been a good wife. I took it as a compliment although Michele (one el) has never expressed a high opinion of domestic bliss. 

When I suggested to Canice she could use a wife right now she went silent. She's one of those people, like many of us, who's reluctant to ask for help. When I asked if I could interpret her call as an invitation to visit, her enthusiastic response left no doubt.

I'm gonna put the travel expenses on my credit card, but it'll take all I have just to get there. I'm concerned that working and "taking the cure" might actually kill Canice. You know how much a day off here and there can help. Please send what you can to Canice Bryson, POB 4039 Palmer, AK 99645-4039. This is one instance where your support *will* make a difference. And if you would, please add a note to let her know she SHOULD cash the check, otherwise she might not.

My journeys all have titles. This one is Marbled Summer. It'll look good on the subject line of your check, don't you think? Here's where it came from...

On the back of the card

The card was part of the celebration of Michelle Cook's (two els) and my 22nd anniversary of being together.  

Nutrias in Love

We celebrate on April first.



The poem is by Anne U. White. Here it is a tad more legible.

                  I WOULD BE WITH YOU

I have said only that I

       would be with you 

Wherever you go

      and you with me.

There is no time or age

      to this one promise,

      nor any place except the

      one you are.

Knowing this, let it give

      you strength,

      and strength to me,

To make what life brings to each of us

Lovelier than before.

1965

I leave tomorrow for Palmer.

Thanks!!

7/27/14
Canice called yesterday. She's had two blood tests since her treatment ended and both show her free & clear of the virus!! Along with this wonderful news she shared that a friend that she hadn't heard from in 20 years had seen the blogpost above and sent a check for $500.00. It came while she was on leave without pay and helped tremendously. She didn't tell me your name, but whoever you are, Thank You!! 

It's coincidences like this -- the post and you reading it -- that bolster my confidence in Jung's collective unconscious.