[Gabriel Morgan] Chapters 34 to 37

[Conner]

Really great chapters, Gabriel!

 

I think Evan got a bit of a bum rap from Raf and Kenny around the annual trek to the cemetary to see Luke. In my view, Kenny should have made his feelings known to Evan. Anytime you do stuff you don't like doing supposedly for the benefit of someone else, resentment usually follows. It's like those parents who "sacrifice" something for the benefit of their children and end up throwing their sacrifice in the form of guilt into their children's faces. Their "higher purpose" got lost somewhere and only resentment and regret remain.

 

Grieving is a very personal thing and we all handle it differently, but I suppose there are some forms of grieving that can be "unhealthy" in terms of achieving some reasonable degree of closure with the grief. It strikes me that Evan may well have gone to an unhealthy place if Jeff hadn't turned up.

 

I'm wondering if grieving is in fact more difficult when the person being grieved is someone like Luke - very attractive, athletic, fun loving, a totally loving human being. There have been no Lukes in my life.

 

Jeff's low self-esteem issues seem to continually rear their ugly head. I wish he'd stop that. It seems that Evan has decided to tackle that issue head on even if it takes the next 50 years. That can be a very draining process. Good for Evan is all I can say there.

 

The humour is just excellent, Gabriel.

[Gabriel Morgan]

Ah, well... I have to take the rap for Jeff's insecurities. They are mostly my own, coming out to sun themselves in Patterson's safe fictional environment. I have only a high school education and sorely feel the lack sometimes. I never really intended to put so much of myself into Jeff, but as he's the voice of the story, it's just working out that way. <sigh> Writing really is like therapy - just without the couch and the large due bill.

 

As for the bum rap from Kenny and Raf, remember that Kenny is the one who felt bad but Raf is the one who got resentful. Kenny is the most easy-going of the 4 guys and would never have told Evan that the few hours once a year at the cemetary bothered him. Sometimes you do stuff for your friends that really isn't your cup of tea, but if it's not killing you, you just do it. For example, I watch *hours* more sci-fi with S than I ever would on my own (can you say 'zero'?) and never bitch about it cause he enjoys my company on the couch.

 

Thanks a lot for getting something going here. I'm afraid I'm at initiating things, but I'm to respond to others.