COWBOY CHURCH.

It feels  strange to be settled down a bit at Lou Ann's place in Tacoma.  She cared for her husband for 14 years after he fell on a ropes course and was blinded.  He and I got along well when we were in school together.  He had a great sense of humor and a strong personality.  I see and feel his presence in their home.  Yesterday we toured a  park on the Puget Sound and walked through the beautiful gardens there.  It is good to be reminded that there is beauty in the world.  Today we plan to visit with a friend, also a classmate, and his wife who live about an hour away.  The friends Gwen and I made and the bonds we formed during the year in Portland have remained strong through the years.

Today, a reminder from Ann Arbor about the first UM football game where I will begin my new duties as assistant supervisor, East Tower, level 2000, the Big House.  I told  Dave, the guy who sent the e-mail message, that the ginormous new scoreboards recently installed at the stadium will serve as a star in the east to guide me home.

It feels good to be back in touch with the world and my friends and relatives as I sit here with my computer.  All of this would be so much better if Gwen were with me.  Recently, as I've begun to concentrate on what remains to be accomplished in this life, I am gaining a sense of strength and purpose.  My sense of humor is also beginning to appear more frequently:

COWBOY CHURCH

I sat in a back pew,

wishing with all my heart

that I had not worn cargo shorts.

This was a cowboy church!

In they come, one by one,

all of them, every single one,

wearing Levi jeans.

Some of the women wore dresses;

the ones who didn’t wear jeans.

Gwen would never have allowed me

to wear green cargo shorts to church;

not even in Ann Arbor.

John A. Bayerl, August 14, 2011

It has been sad, but also comforting, Dear, to hear old friends tell me-- as if I needed to hear-- what a kind, loving and wonderful person you were.