Richard Norway

Bruin,No, Nathaniel's father is not going to be a danger for either me or Nathaniel. The truth is that he really doesn't want Nathaniel. At the meeting that we had with Child Protective Services, he lied through his teeth. Nathaniel's therapist later told me that she couldn't believe what went on in that meeting. The facilitator is a closeted lesbian and seemed to have sympathy with Nathaniel's father. The format was such that each person had a chance to speak and not be interrupted by anyone else. Nathaniel was the last to speak. Nathaniel doesn't express his emotions well verbally, but what he did was finally speak his mind. He turned toward the wall so that he wasn't speaking directly to anyone and said that he would not go back to live with his dad. He couldn't stop his tears and someone got up and handed him a box of tissues. I looked at his father and I couldn't see any emotion on his face as his son was so badly hurting. Then I told myself that Nathaniel needs to know that he's alright and loved so I put my hand on his shoulder to reassure him. Nathaniel, and everyone else in that room then knew who really loved him.Nathaniel is 17 and will be 18 in a few months so all of this wrangling over guardianship will be mute then.His mother lives in Albuquerque (a three hour drive away from Las Cruces) and Nathaniel had no way of getting there. But more than that, she's not able to take care of him either financially or emotionally.Nathaniel has a boyfriend who's 20 and he and I have talked a lot about Nathaniel. He's told me what a change he's seen in Nathaniel, his feeling loved for the first time in his life. His boyfriend (also named David) is so happy that Nathaniel is with my David and I.My biggest problem....My David and I are part of an organizing committee for the Red Ribbon Bash. It's a gala event to raise money for people with HIV and AIDs for medications, living assistance, etc. We expect 300+ people there tonight. I'm in charge of check-in/check-out which involves collecting all of the money from the silent auction. I have 20 volunteers that I'm overseeing and Nathaniel and his boyfriend are a part of that. My biggest problem is getting Nathaniel to wear a tie. LOL

Just to let you all know, Nathaniel's dear old dad finally (It took him a week.) signed a power of attorney for me. Nathaniel goes to the doctor on Friday for the first psychical that he's ever had.

Oh James, that was wonderful. I had a bad day and that made me laugh and now off to bed in a good mood. Thanks

I'm not so sure E.J. This decision was in Federal Court, so it would apply to the whole US. If the defendants won't appeal, I'm sure that others in other states will sue and it will eventually wind up in the US Supreme Court. But this is still monumental! I never thought it would happen in my lifetime.

Wow! and OMG!!!!!!!! Do you all know how expensive a proper wedding can be? We had originally planned on it being at Wayfarers Chapel in Portuguese Bend and the reception on the Queen Mary in Long Beach. OMG!! Now I have to auction off my soul to pay for it. Any takers?? :)

I can't wait to see what happens to him next.

Geez Cole! No Link? I suppose you want me to get it myself, huh? :) Opps, there goes the dryer buzzer. Now I have to go and get the laundry out of the dryer and put it on hangers before the shirts wrinkle. So how am I supposed to have the time to go search IOMFATS all by myself, huh? Okay, I'm searching now. Opps, there goes the microwave buzzer. Now I've got to get the melted butter out of the microwave so that I can prepare the hollandaise sauce for the asparagus for tonight's dinner. Oh, the dogs just ran away after a jack rabbit. Not to worry though; the rabbits are too fast and the dogs have never caught one in the past five years that we've had them. Okay, back to searching now. Opps, the phone's ringing.

That is just scary. Over 2,00o nuclear explosions from 1945 to 1998. And that doesn't count the scariest one...North Korea's.

Well gang, the summer doldrums are over, at least for me. I've got a kid in school that started on August 18th so my fall started early. Oh yeah, you don't know about him yet. Well, I'll get to that, but first let me tell you about my Spring and Summer, and why I've been away. After 4 1/2 years of hard work, David and I have finally opened the first gay and lesbian community center in Las Cruces. No big deal you say? It is. It's the first gay and lesbian community center in Las Cruces and the only one in the state of New Mexico. I wish that you could feel the elation that I feel in being able to do something to bring the fractured and isolated GLBTQ community a hope of becoming a family...a community here in New Mexico. We incorporated in New Mexico 2 years ago and received our non-profit status from the IRS the same year. We had thought about what we wanted to do, to become, and realized that this wasn't about us...this was about the community. So, we applied for and received a grant from the Gamma Mu Foundation to do the first ever GLBTQ focused state wide needs assessment of what the community needed. We were not about to try to impose our thoughts on what was needed, but wanted to know what was REALLY needed hand carried our final report was send to every state representative and senator. Our Center programs are based on those findings of youth and seniors. We had a soft opening in March and had our official grand opening in June to coincide with the Pride picnic and march parade through downtown. We had events going from Friday through Sunday. On Friday there was a coalition building workshop where we had representatives from Equality New Mexico, PFLAG New Mexico, Interpride (the national Pride organization) and Centerlink (the national organization of gay and lesbian centers). That evening we had a family movie night. Saturday morning was our official ribbon cutting ceremony. OMG! We had sent out invitations to everybody, and guess what? They showed up. We had City officials there along with county commissioners, state representatives, representatives for our state senators, from both of our US senators, one from our US representative and someone reading a letter from our Lt. governor. This a first in New Mexico. That Saturday we had a booth at the Pride picnic in the park and offered a free shuttle service (which cost us dearly) between the park and the center, which was only a few blocks away, David manned the center while I manned the booth. Albersons market donated a marvelous cake for the open house at the center with a wonderful picture of the center on top in the frosting., Of course, we had to take home the leftovers. Saturday evening we had an invitation only reception at our home for the high rollers to get them to donate, but it wasn't attended so well. Santorini's Restaurant donated a wonderful array of Mediterranean food and Saint Clair Winery donated the wines. Sunday morning we hosted an interfaith symposium at the center where we had 7 representatives from the areas various churches come and discuss homosexuality and the church. 35 people showed up for that event, and we're continuing that dialog with the churches. What I'm getting from the response to our opening is that they want us here. We're the first, and I hear things like, "It's about time," We're behind you." and "What can we do to help." I'd say that I'm in 7th heaven, but I think I just passed on to number 8. So far we have 14 social and support groups meeting there. AA has a group meeting there, ALANON meets there along with a parenting of gay kids group, a men's group, a trans group and many others. I could go on and on about the groups that are meeting there, but what's more important to me is the social services that we're providing. The state health department, through a two full day training session, has certified us as an HIV testing site. We received a grant from a private foundation to initiate an HIV prevention program and counseling services are available. We've started a youth center to get the kids involved, but more than that, it's about them making the right choices in life, a social gathering spot, suicide prevention and life skills training. You all don't know how excited this 65 year old is. My dreams are coming true. So that's what's been taking my time away from you all. Okay, now on to Nathaniel. The two foster kids that were placed with us have moved on. One had to be admitted to a hospital because of homicidal tendencies and the other older boy moved on to independent (although transitional) housing apartments. The older boy, 18 y/o, had a friend in Albuquerque that had moved to Las Cruces. They met up again on MySpace and found out that they lived only a few blocks apart, so his friend (Nathaniel) started to spend some time at our house, One morning I saw that Nathaniel was still here. I questioned him and found out that he was afraid to go home. He was afraid of his father. David and I sat him down and explained his options (as he was now considered a runaway). We told him that his best option was to talk to his dad and work it out, which he eventually did. I asked him how it went and he said fine, but i didn't believe him. About a month ago, he called me at 11:00 pm on a Friday night and was in tears. He asked me if he could come over and hearing how distraught he was, I said of course, without even asking what was wrong. I walked outside and eventually saw him walk up the driveway carrying two small bags. He approached me and threw his arms around me and sobbed. I held him and it took several minutes for him to get out his story. He had an argument with his dad (and Nathaniel being gay was an issue) and his dad told him to get out, to go live with his mother. He gave him no money (she lives 3 hours away) or transportation. So, Nathaniel is now living with us. I reported his dad to CYFD (Child Youth & Family Department), our child protective services state department, as I'm a licensed foster parent and a mandatory reporter.l As far as I'm concerned, this is a clear case of abandonment. We have a meeting set up for Tuesday with dear old dad, me, and adoption agency and CYFD this coming Tuesday. My God, if Nathaniel gets hurt, right now I have no authority to get him medical attention. CYFD wants dad to sign at least a power of attorney for me. As far as I'm concerned, this kid has suffered enough and needs a family, which he's never had, and the dad can go to jail. Nathaniel agree with me Anyway, that's how I've got a kid living with us. I know there'll be a lot of questions from you all, so go ahead and ask. Are we at risk? Did we put ourselves in harms way? Yeah, we did. But this kid's future is more important.

?There he is again. I just love the way he walks, the way his hips move from side to side as he strides to wherever he?s going.? Jerrod sat on the short concrete wall next to Kelly to finish his lunch but continued to watch the guy across the quad. It was Tyler Adams, the quarterback on the football team. Kelly watched Jerrod, then turned her head to see who he was looking at. ?When are you going to get some balls and go over and introduce yourself?? Kelly asked scornfully. ?I can?t do that! Besides, what would I say? ?Hey there, hunky high school quarterback.? Or how about ?I hear that you need help with pre-calc. You wanna come over to my house so I can tutor you?? Yeah, right!? ?Jerrod, you are so stupid sometimes. Just walk up to him and say ?Hi.? That?s all it takes.? Jerrod focused his attention across the quad again, but Tyler was gone. He let out a short love-struck sigh. ?I still don?t know what to say after that. Besides, he?s not gay. He?d probably pound the shit out of me.? ?How do you know he?s not gay? Have you asked him? Oh, that?s right. You?re too chicken to even talk to him.? Jerrod jumped from his seat and glared at Kelly. ?That?s not fair!? he shouted and turned and walked away. <<<000>>> ?There he is again talking to Rosey. He?s always talking to her. She must be his girlfriend.? Jerrod walked down the hall pretending that he didn?t see Tyler or Rosey when Rosey turned and looked directly at him. ?Oh God. She?s looking at me. I gotta get out of here before HE looks at me!? Just then Tyler turned and looked directly at Jerrod, his brows wrinkling ever so slightly. As Tyler turned back to say something to Rosey, Jerrod turned and practically ran, turning into the next hall. He had to get away. <<<000>>> Kelly smiled as she saw Jarrod and headed for the desk next to him. Kelly sat then turned and watched Jerrod, saying nothing. Jerrod could feel Kelly?s eyes on him, and he turned to her when he couldn?t take it any longer. ?What?? he asked. His word was heated. ?You have a crush on him,? she said, looking directly into his eyes. ?On who?? ?On Tyler. You have this major crush on him, but you?re afraid to even talk to him.? Jerrod turned toward the front of the classroom and slunk down in his chair. He remained motionless for a moment, starring off into nothingness. ?Is it that obvious?? Jerrod finally said to the front whiteboard. ?Yeah, it is.? Jerrod remained silent for a moment, then turned toward Kelly. ?I can?t get him out of my mind. I think about him all the time. I even dream that we?re a couple. There?s a pure white sand beach that I went to with my folks this summer, and I picture myself walking with Tyler along the water?s edge on that beach at sunset?holding hands.? ?Oh man, Jerrod. You?ve got it bad.? ?I know. But he doesn?t even know that I exist. He?s got a girlfriend so I don?t have a chance.? ?You don?t know that Rosey?s his girlfriend. Have you ever seen them holding hands, or kissing? They could just be friends, like you and me.? ?No, but....? Kelly and Jerrod turned toward the front of the classroom as the teacher entered, then Kelly turned back toward him for a moment. ?You going to the GSA meeting after class?? ?Yeah, I?ll be there. I can?t be with Tyler so I don't have anything else to do.? <<<000>>> Jerrod walked into the empty classroom where the GSA meeting would be held. He was followed by Alex, the GSA president, and Ms. Marshall, the faculty advisor. ?Hey Jerrod. What?s up man?? Alex asked as he brushed past him. ?Nothing.? ?Hey, sorry, we?re late. The rest should be arriving any time now. Could you set up the cookies and sodas over there?? Alex asked, pointing to a table at the rear of the room. ?Sure, no problem.? Jerrod turned and walked to the back of the room. ?At least I won?t have to talk to anybody back here.? he thought to himself. Just as he finished arranging the cookies, the other members of the club starting filing into the room. Jerrod knew all of them. Bobby was followed by Tim, his boyfriend then by Kelly, who winked at him as her girlfriend Bethany followed right behind her, then Tyler followed by Brett and Alicia. ?TYLER! What the hell is he doing here? Oh shit! I?m trapped. Don?t look at me, please. Oh God, no. He?s looking around the room. Don?t look at me, man.? Tyler stopped scanning the room as soon as he saw Jerrod. He was smiling slightly as he walked to the back of the room toward the table with the cookies and sodas?and Jerrod. ?I knew it. Someone told him that I?ve been crushing on him and now I?m dead.? Jerrod?s breath became rapid as doom approached him. Tyler was now standing right in front of him, looking at him. ?Hi. My name?s Tyler.? he said as he held out his hand. ?Uh, Hi. I?m Jerrod.? ?I know. Ah, I hope I?m not being too forward, but I wanted to ask you something.? ?Look, I?m sorry man. I don?t know what you?ve heard about me, but I?m really sorry.? Tyler looked confused and he glanced around the room for a moment and then back at Jerrod. ?I really don?t know what you mean, no one?s talked to me about you. What I wanted to ask is if you?d like to go out with me sometime. Maybe grab a burger and catch a flick Saturday night? If you?re free??

Cole, what a wonderful story, but then you have never stopped me being amazed by you insite. But to the age disparity; I have personally known a young man who was raised by his grandparent, and in my mind, he was better off for it. His parents had to give him up because they were unable (and unwilling in this case) to teach him what he needed to know to be a functioning adult. This was taught to him by his grandparents, mostly because of their maturity. I know, Tom had his real dad as a role model, but it was mentioned in this thread about a kid being raised by a grandparent and I had to get my 2 1/2 cents in. And it truly is a labor of love.

What Am I Worried About? by Richard Norway What am I worried about? He won't tell anyone; I just know it. He won't. Would he? I just can't deal with all of the questions if he did. We had dinner together tonight at our favorite pizza place, and when I tried to go to sleep after I got home, I kept thinking about the evening. Mark was sort of tense, and all we talked about was school. Then when I mentioned his mother, he stopped talking, but I kept talking about her and.... The door to my room slammed open, and I pulled up the comforter to shield myself. It was my Dad. "Uh... Dad... what do you want?" I asked. "Rob, what did you say to Mark tonight? What did you say to him to make him call your principal?" Dad stepped up beside my bed and looked down at me. "Mr. Pederson is downstairs right now, and he said that he needs to talk to you about what you said to Mark. And I want to find out why he's here at such a late hour. What's going on Rob?" It had happened. Mark had told someone, the principal of our high school. I'd seen Mr. Pederson around school, but we'd never met. Mark liked him a lot, but to me he seemed sort of unapproachable. I then looked up at Dad. He looked very irritated and I wondered if he would be able to believe me now. I steadied myself. "Dad, I think you've taught me well. You've taught me about the strength you get from being honest, and about the stability you get from being yourself." "Are you going to tell me what's going on with Mark?" Dad was glaring at me now. "Yes, but I think you're going to be surprised. Let's go down and talk to my principal." I got out of bed and quickly pulled on my jeans and T-shirt from the day as my dad watched me. I turned to see the lack of calmness in his eyes and I smiled at him, just a little smile. I breathed a big sigh, walked out the door and headed downstairs. "Rob Ryerson?" It was Mr. Pederson, my high school principal, standing in our living room. "Yes, that's me." "I hope your father didn't upset you. I didn't have a chance to tell him everything about why I was here before he rushed upstairs to get you." "What's this about Mr. Pederson?" my dad asked, but I already knew. "It's about Mark." My dad's head turned and he glared at me, but I continued to watch my high school principal. "He's your boyfriend, isn't he?" the principal asked. "Yes he is, but how do you know? And why are you here?" "Rob, Mark left me a voicemail message that he was going to kill himself tonight after you two finished dinner." Now my dad was upset. "Mr. Pederson, if you knew Mark was threatening to kill himself why didn't you call the police or his parents?" "Because I was out until late this evening, and I didn't pick up my voicemail messages until I got home. Thank God that Mark had left me a second message after he and Rob had dinner. I listened to both of his messages. Because of the second message, there was no reason to involve the police, and I came here after visiting with Mark and his father." He turned to me. "And you know what was in that second message, Rob?" "Yeah, I know. Mark changed his mind." My dad stared at me. "Why didn't you tell me about this when you came home tonight?" I turned and looked directly at my dad. "Well, because you wouldn't have believed me. No one would have believed me. Remember, I'm only sixteen, you know?" That was one of the things Dad always said to me, 'Remember, you're only sixteen, you know?' My dad's eyes shot open. "Mark's mom died this morning." I said. My dad's head fell as I turned back to Mr. Pederson. "Yes I know, and you knew before meeting Rob for dinner, didn't you?" "Yeah, I knew. At dinner I asked Mark how she's doing in Heaven because that's where she is. I told him that she's always going to be looking down at him, watching him to make sure he's okay, and that she'll always love him. That's when he told me he'd planned to kill himself." I couldn't hold back any longer as the first tear slid down my cheek. "Look, I didn't know Mark called you or that you knew about his mom." Mr. Pederson smiled and put his hand on my shoulder. "Mark's second voicemail message was about how you told him that his mom is looking down and watching him. He said he found a reason to keep on living because of you, that you gave him a reason to keep going, and that the two of you cried together." "Mr. Pederson, Mark is the love of my life, and I would have done anything, I would do anything, to be with him, to keep him going." I was being honest and being myself, and I had no hope now of stopping my tears. "Rob, the reason I'm here is to thank you. You saved a wonderful young man's life tonight, a wonderful young man who told me that you are the love of his life." Mr. Pederson turned to my dad. "Mr. Ryerson, your son is also a wonderful young man. You have every reason to be very proud of him." My dad looked at me, pulled me into a hug, and a smile broke out on his face. "Mr. Pederson, I think that Rob and I need a few minutes together? alone." Mr. Pederson looked at me and my dad and smiled. "I'll let myself out. And Rob, you need to phone Mark. I know he's waiting for your call."

Hey Captain Rick, This is Captain Richard. Yeah, I had a big boat once that I could practice my Navy navigation and boat handling on. But that's not the point.I think you've followed the same path that I have. I was married, have a wonderful daughter, but had to come out. My wife and I talked about it and decided that the best way for us to life a fulfilling life was to separate to give each of us the opportunity to be who we are. She and I remained friends, in fact I was invited to her wedding and her and her husband and me and my partner have had numerous times together.What you're doing with your community is so wonderful. My partner, David, and I are about to open the first GLBTQ Community Center in New Mexico. It's a lot of work, but passion seems to make it so tolerable.I too came out late in life, but we're moving on. There are so many of us older folks that are waiting for that opportunity.Bruin said it so succinctly. "May your power never wane. My very best wishes for your new life."That goes doubly from me.Richard

This spell checker sucks.

Hello everyone. Not going to explain why I've not posted in a few months except to say that it's been a whurl wind around here. David and I have now a second foster boy placement. Actually, he's been here since mid-November. He's 18 years old, male and gay. He's had drug and alcohol abuse in his past as well as violence and flight from authority. Sounds terrible, doesn't it? David and I were sceptical at first...until we interviewed him at his rehab cewnter to see if we wanted to take him. He had been kicked out of his home when he was 14 years old and has been on his own ever seince...at least until he entered the juvinal justice system last Summer. He hasn't been in school for the past four years, but on his own, he went to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and got his GED. To me, that spoke highly of him. Then there was the 'violance' accusation. I found out later that his father would not and still does not accept his homosexuality. They got into an arguement on night and his dad pulled a knife on him. Erek (That's the wau he spells his name.) defended himself and hit his dad. Well, it's now on his reco9rd that he's violent. To be honest with you, this kid copes better than I do with his anger, and that I've discovered over the last three months. We have our ups and downs but nothing out of the ordinary when dealing with a teenager and a parent. He has the normal urges to be independent. But given that he hasn't had parental guidance for the past four year, I've been fighting tooth and nail (Don't slam me for using cliches, I will if I want too.)to get him to look at new ways of dealing with and looking at the world. Dustin isn't with us anymore. They reduced his medication (Abilify) by one half in December and then took him off it completely in January. Dustin started halucinating and hearing voices. The troublesome part was that the voices told him that the voice was the Devil and that he wanted Dustin to murder his mother. We've talked to Dustin about his visions for a while and when this came out, we called his trerapist. An emmergency therapy session was called and afterwards it was recommended that a higher level of treatment was called for. That meant that that night Dustin was admitted to a local mental hospital. He's been there for a week and a half now.He's due to be released in the next day or so, but he won't be coming back here. He needs constant attention and they're recommending that he be placed in a home where there are no other siblings. With Erek here, it won't work for them. I really feel sorry for this kid. There is a lot more to the story about his mother, father and grandmother that I won't go into, but just know that Dustin has his own problems but his past world just made it terrible. I'm going to go see him when he's placed again after the hospital. On a brighter note...you remember my passion to open gay and lesbian community centers here in New Mexico, well...we now have the first ever GLBTQ center opening. We have a building here in Las Cruces that we moved into last week. The City is behind us in this and we're applying for a grant from them. It won't cover everything, but it will cover our first project which is a teen centerwith programs for them. Our biggest fear is sustainability. We've planned to open all of the additional programs only when the funds are securred.I really want this to go. Damn, I've still got a lot of work to do. So...you've now heard why I've been absent here. Richard

Last night I upgraded from Vista to Windows 7, 64 bit. The installation was almost flawless. There were some questions about backing up my files at the beginning, but as I now use an online backup service (after having lost a hard drive and chip set last month), I by-passed those questions. After that was done, I sat back and let it work. 2 1/2 hours later, it was complete. The only thing that didn't come across was my start list of much used programs. It only took me a few minutes to add my fav programs back to it and delete those that Microsoft thought I would use. So far, I'm happy with Windows 7.

Like the rest of you 'young' readers. I too have to go back and re-read chapters to 'remember' what the story is about before I can go on to the current chapter. Duncan Ryder is one of my favorite authors. His stories are always powerful. I read the first two chapters, and like others, I decided to wait for the conclusion because I read the rest of the story...in one setting. I want to rip my emotions apart in one setting, and I know that Duncan will do that.

Thank you Cole and Steven. I believe that you both really thought about it, and got it. So few words were used, but so much back story and emotions between the two boys were revealed in those few words. This took me a long time to get it to where I wanted it, and as short as possible without flowery description to say the bare necessities to get only the needed back story and present emotions out. Steven, I was the older brother (only by 11 months), but my younger brother was the one that bullied me. I too, one day, stood up to him (I think I was 16 then). I guess we need to do that to survive. My brother and I were never friends growing up, but now, we've gotten quite close. The idea for this story came out of David and I acquiring another foster son to be placed here. Dustin (our first) is 11, and the new boy is 18 (There's a lot of back story here as to why an 18 year old is in foster care, but he is in this case). I was wondering one afternoon, what would happen if we didn't have another room for the new boy. Thus, my mind went wild with a story that I had to write.

Mine Now by Richard Norway He was only 17 years old, but Erick knew that he couldn't take anymore. He had felt his resolve growing the older he got. He had grown in the last three years to his 6'-1" stature and at 185 pounds, he knew that he could finally stand up for himself. His only fear over the last year had been that he needed the courage inside of himself to go with his outward physical strength. He wasn't sure that he had it yet when his older brother entered his room, scowling. Scott had been away at college and was expected home for the Christmas holidays, but not this early. "You son of a bitch!" Scott screamed as he slammed the door behind him. "What gives you the fucking right?" Erick clambered back on the bed away from his brother, hitting his head on the wall, clutching his chest, the old fears returning. "Scott?" "Just shut up! I gave you specific instructions, you little dipshit." Erick didn't respond right away, looking at the fury in his brother's eyes. "Scott, I'm not so little anymore." Scott stopped his forward movement and looked at his brother. He looked for a long time, not speaking, staring at his brother. "Yeah, I see that you've finally grown up. But what gave you the right?" Scott finally demanded. Erick shuffled down from the head of the bed to sit cross legged in the middle. Looking at his brother, Erick felt that it was time. "Scott. You get the couch in the family room. This is my room now. And I changed it the way I want it." Scott looked at his brother and smiled. "Bout time you got some balls. I think you need a wedgie." Erick narrowed his eyelids and stared at Scott, trying to hide his grin. "Just try it, asshole."

Hey Cole. I think this Melville guy wrote something about my friend, Moby Clauson. He was a whale, I'll tell you. *Okay Richard. Shut up. You're being bad.*

Cole, thank you for that. I listened and the dark haired boy seemed to know that the farce was on, he grinned at what he was doing...several times. Since this was YouTube, the suggestions at the end kept me going until I found Pavarotti singing Nessen Dorma. Please listen and see it. The man was 72 years old when he performed Nessun Dorma for the last time before he died in 2007. What a wonderful voice, filled with the emotions of the music and the words, They are in Italian, but you can feel the emotion as well as see it in his eyes and body language. I don't know if he knew that this was his last performance, but emotionally, it was his greatest. Here's his best performance, with fell choir. I dare anyone to hit that high C today like he could.

What a thought provoking piece James. Like everyone said, so many questions, so many "why's" You made us feel for these two, one young, one old. What's their story? As always in your writing, you just amaze me.

Colin, What a lively language we have. I hadn't thought about what Chris said, that new variations of our language are evolving, and thinking about it, he's right. The push to standardize is offset by the dynamics of new words and variations in meanings emerging. I think I'm going to head over to the NM State University library soon and look for that DVD set. Of course, Professor John McWhorter being a Berkeley professor, puts doubt on his credibility. [snicker]

Someone had mentioned on another thread how language in the United States is merging into a singular dialect and that we are losing our regional dialects. I think they used the example of CNN News from Atlanta sounding the same as CNN News from New York. Des Hit on it that television, movies, even tourism and the internet is bringing all of our national, and within our our nations, our regional dialects and our idiosyncrasies together into a singular form of communication. Someone else also mentioned in that thread that they felt that it was a shame to loose those differences. I don't agree with that. I think that the more we are able to communicate, the better that we will understand each other. And that's what is driving that...our need to better communicate...to understand each other. I believe that our stories will also have to evolve if their time and place is the present. Of course if you set your story in the past, then, yes, you need to use the vernacular of that period. One day we will see a universal langusge where there are no misunderstandings of the slang used. The same word will be understood in England, Australia, Kenya, Russia, Chile and every country on this planet. The Tower Of Babble has lost it's meaning and purpose.

Steven, wonderful job. You built agony and regret and turned it around. I really liked this.