I want to thank everyone at Gay Authors who has made my visits here so satisfying and enjoyable.  The stories are what brought me here and keeps me coming back so I first want to thank Mark Arbour for his CAP Series and later his Bridgemont saga. Mark's stories are what brought me to the site in the first place and they keep me coming back.  Along the way C. James' "Circumnavigation" and Andrew Q Gordon's stories also captivated me...and so many others too including Nephylim, Libby Drew, AnytaSunday, DKstories, and oh, so many others!

As I was visiting the site fairly regularly, I finally decided to formally join it in April 2009 and I started to leave a few comments, getting more confident after awhile.  "Likes" were not unlimited and actually fairly restricted, meaning I often ran out every day.  Accordingly, reputation points built quite slowly for most on the site and that is why some of the classic authors' rep scores must seem low to newer members.  It is only in the past couple of years that members could leave an unlimited number of likes. 

I finally had written and revised something enough that I thought was good enough to post and "Dean Warner Intrigues" was posted in 2012.  Having tasted some success, I began writing "Abel III's Awakening" and it was posted in 2014 and 2015.   I intend to post some more, but my standards have grown and I'm not satisfied with anything as of yet.  

Seventy years is getting a bit long in the tooth and for most people in their teens, twenties and thirties it doesn't seem possible to project that far ahead into one's life.  But most everyone has grandparents, parents and other oldsters in their life and you do notice things.  Not all of them complimentary either.   Life is often explained in terms of a journey and what you make of it, how you prepare for it and how you take time to enjoy it and help others to enjoy it determines whether you derive satisfaction and what kind of person you end up being.  The pursuit of happiness is hollow if it only involves the pursuit of money or things.  It is also hollow if it only involves the next drug or alcohol induced high as that gets old quickly and makes you old before your time and unhealthy to boot.  

People are social creatures.  We crave interaction, touch and a sense of belonging.  However, it is just those things that makes us vulnerable. Learning to chose friends wisely is an ongoing lesson.  Everyone gets hurt, and in truth everyone has hurt some others, even if unintentionally.  Forgiveness is a virtue which must be cultivated if we expect others to forgive us.  Every long term relationship requires forgiveness and not just the act of saying it, but also of letting go of the resentment and hurt caused by the offense. It is not always easy and is damn near impossible at times, but the resentment and anger can eat at you.  And life is too short to carry that around all the time. 

I have had many family and friends die over the course of my life and some died much too young.  What is worse, some died before they really had a chance to achieve anything, as I had a cousin who was murdered in a drive by shooting in Denver when he was in his early twenties.  But most were of great help to me and always encouraging and I treasure the memories. 

So while I have many regrets, but then again too few to mention, (a la Sinatra) I have had a good life so far and I'm looking forward to being productive for several more.  

Thanks again GA for being part of my good memories!

Daddy, Dave K