Hi Mark,

I recently caught up with a guy that I grew up next door to in Ohio. He lived in the house on the block where all the kids showed up to play. They had a pool table in the basement, a basketball hoop in the driveway and a huge yard where we played red rover and the like. His mom was my blue bird troop leader and I was friends with his little sister. He asked me what I had been up to and what follows is my response.

Hi Mark,

I would love to get caught up with you guys. I have talked to your sister here and there over the years, but you’re right, it has been at least 25 years since I saw you or your brother. So here goes.

The day after high school, I pretty much didn’t do anything. Just sat around and wondered “uh, ok now what?” The next day the same and the day after that Mom said “… if you’re not going to college you gotta get a job and pay rent”

A reasonable request don’t you think?

Not too long after that I got an apartment with a friend. Spent my twenties and thirties:

moving to apartments, back to Mom’s, new apartments, changing roommates, changing jobs, losing weight, gaining weight, gaining and losing boyfriends, had a dog I still love, (his ashes are in a box in the garage, can’t bring myself to deal with them and he has been dead 10 years), had two cats I loved but have passed, a couple of fish but the cat ate the beta, kept a job working with retarded adults for nine years, spent my retirement savings from that job to open an art shop in German Village, (the last time I saw your mom was when your parents came to the grand opening, pretty cool of them I thought), drove my mom to California to see the Price is Right, had a tee shirt made that read “Bob Barker is the Sexiest Man Alive” still didn’t get picked to be on stage, moved in with my sister stayed there 5 years, met Wayne, my husband and the one I was waiting for all those years, moved to Florida with him after only 6 months of dating, sometimes you just know, we knew and we went for it, 2 and half years later we got engaged, I had a hard time convincing him that if we got married I would not turn into his ex-wife, she really beat him up, 11 months after getting engaged we got married in Ohio, your sister and your dad were there, I got so drunk we did not consummate the marriage for 2 days. (is that tooooo much info?) one day after quitting my 3rd job in banking, ( I was the assistant manager of a bank, only the branch was inside of a Wal-Mart so can you blame me?) Wayne says to me, why don’t you quit taking jobs you hate and do what you love? “But I like writing and I have only one year of college from Columbus State when I was like 29 years old...” “ So?” he says. So, I started writing, it took a year of experimenting before settling on writing screenplays. (Did several children’s books and worked on an auto biography and a sitcom pilot) I have completed one script and Wayne and I are working on an Oscar winner together. Wayne’s job sent him to Seattle for four months and I went with him.

So this year I have worked harder than ever but haven’t been paid a dime yet. I forgot to stop spending money when I quit working so I am going to have to get a little something that pays till we sell a screenplay.

Wayne: He is the best man I have ever known, he totally believes in me and encourages me to be my best. We were introduced by a good friend of mine who was also a great friend of his; she was Wayne’s best “man” when we married. (I was old when I married my prince charming but that kinda beats settling for less just so you could get married while you’re still young enough to drink at your reception and not be sick for two days)

He has 2 daughters 17 and 19 that live with their mother in NY. Beautiful girls that are as smart as he is.

So we are in our home now and working on whatever is next. We are sort of maybe considering moving to LA area but only for a few years. If Wayne had his way we would live in Sonoma, I really liked Seattle, but am not sure where I want the forever house to be. We do know that we want to have a cabin in Ohio for summers and holidays visits with the herd back there. No matter where we live, as long as we are together we are home.

So… what’s up with you?