Former Member

Bella had twins who are now 16? She was pregnant at the age of 2‽‽‽ (Did I miss a whole story somewhere?) Now who has problems with math? ;–)

Did he steal Arnold’s fluffy bunny slippers (from Torch Song Trilogy)? ;–)

Are there some ‘unusual’ doorways in the building? Is Pip playing an April Fool’s Joke on David? Or is Auggie looking in on David? ;–)

In my current city, there is a very high percentage of kids living with grandparents, aunts, and relatives other than their parents (often due to addiction and/or incarceration). Rather than a ‘whole-family,’ I’d say a stable, loving, and supportive family – regardless of whether that means a single parent, two parents, or guardians. ;–)

The description of the Boltford reminds me of something AC Benus might include in one of his stories! ;–) When I was growing up, divorce was still an embarrassing and shameful condition even though it was legal. There were increasing numbers of kids whose parents had divorced or separated. Unmarried couples living together had been increasing since the Sixties, but was often seen as shameful as well. Even into the Seventies, racially mixed marriages were not seen as acceptable by large swaths of the population. As the percentage of surviving first-time marriages fell, acceptance of non-traditional families increased. Blended families (parents with kids marrying each other) became more visible with TV shows like the Brady Bunch, although it was implied that Mike & Carol had previously been widowed rather than divorced. While I was working, more and more of my coworkers would refer to step- and half-siblings and step-parents. The stigma of divorce has faded over time. In my opinion, divorce is not ideal, but couple should remain unhappily together ‘for the kids’ because it can’t help but be damaging to their emotional well-being.

A platonic (very platonic!) older Gay friend was living in an Assisted Care facility. At the time he was experiencing early stages of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – aka Lou Gehrig’s disease), a progressive degenerative nerve disorder. I was there until he was ready to go to bed. Normally, he’d call for an aide to help him get undressed, but he asked me if I’d help him since the aides were always busy and it took time for one to show up. I didn’t want to, but he asked to to help him take his underwear off. I really didn’t want to see him naked. But I did it as a favor to him. (I was never there that late again.) Eventually, they asked him to move out because they weren’t set up to provide as much assistance as he required. He moved back home (where I had been housesitting) and another friend became his primary caregiver. We had been cleaning up his house because he was a hoarder and had also given up on housekeeping as his symptoms had made it more difficult to do anything. He had been a very funny man. He was Canadian and wanted to join the Navy (so he could be surrounded by sailors, naturally!). The Canadian Navy rejected him because of his eyesight. The US Navy was happy to have him since we were involved in the Vietnam War at the time. He was able to get US citizenship and he moved to the Bay Area after he got out of the Navy. He met and lived with a German Jew who had escaped from a French concentration camp and got out of Nazi Europe through Portugal. His partner had been murdered by two young men he had picked up and taken home. Fortunately, they had gotten legal documents that left their home to my friend. My friend went into a coma and died about a year after he returned home. Many end-stage ALS patients fear choking to death because they can no longer swallow and need to have someone regularly suctioning their saliva out. My friend was spared that terrible fate.

How beautifully human. Thank you, v

Haha, Tim! That's the just the piece I was thinking of tackling next I'm sure it will be a real money-maker, lol -- I mean, rain-maker

@Lux Apollo Belated for your birthday. Please listen This is a piece that would make ole JS Bach flush pink with compositional envy; I can see him dancing on the organ foot pedals now as he plays this arrangement...

"...the tender concern for their vehicle as they inspect the damage. " Smooth passage, clean story Excellent pacing, nice, very nice. v

I’ve already answered this – he’s retired so he’s not under the same legal obligations he used to be, but he knows where all the resources are and how to get things done! ;–)

They may as well quit their day jobs and open a group home. These people collect children the way some people collect comic books or trading cards. With the constant chaos, it’s surprising that they’re allowed to adopt at all!

She doesn’t have much (if any) control over her MS, but she can control who knows and how much! Negotiating with a disease doesn’t work. Diseases ignore what you want and just do what they were going to do anyway.

It is sad - that was my second ending - Zack getting hurt or actually dying - more times than not a teen in that situation - in a nervous breakdown and gay - always hiding the real person - they do it... it is sad - but the fear of being out - is bigger than the survival instinct - probably a lot less today with the more tolerant attitude - but back in the 50's it was the norm.

Hey @Ivor Slipper! What’s next now that I Do Like to Be Beside the Seashore has concluded? ;–)

I’m sure Ivor is just as interested in the answer as I am! But are you accusing me of attempting to be polite? ;–) And there are all these other holidays before then! Earth Day is April 22nd. Ramadan will occur beginning the evening of April 23rd (April 22 or 24 in some areas) and ends a month later. May the Fourth is Star Wars Day. Cinco de Mayo is May 5th, naturally. US Mother’s Day is May 10th. US Memorial Day is May 25th. ;–)

So Oleg bought the sports car version of a jet for Makarovia! A suitable plane for the young ruler of a newly wealthy small country. It is appropriately regal (ie fit for a monarch). The US Presidential Air Force One's livery was designed by Raymond Loewy for John F Kennedy on the advice of his wife Jackie, and subsequently applied to the later two models that followed it in service. It is very subdued and classy compared with the ‘too regal’ red and metallic gold that the Air Force had originally proposed. I hadn’t realized that such a prominent designer had worked on the livery, a lasting remnant of the changes introduced by the tasteful, elegant, and refined couple.

I love the speculation even if it’s very different from where I’d go! ;–) With all of Jett’s money and the likelihood of Jett’s father wanting to be part of his only grandchild’s life, they could buy a much larger house with rooms for Grandpa, Jett & Theopril, Carina, and Jay! Ideally, it’d be one of those fancy new houses with two master bedrooms and a mother-in-law apartment (for Carina or Grandpa, depending on who wants more independence). Or they could buy a small apartment building with Zane and Dan as fellow tenants (perhaps separately, perhaps together). ;–)

I think Susie would take Luke back – especially if Alex weren’t part of the equation! Luke needs some structure and stability in his life. Maternal caring (from Susie and Nicola) would be a shock to his system. ;–)

So Natalie and Fran are possibilities! ;–) If Amy is obsessed with sex, shouldn’t she be missing Luke more? ;–)

This author? He’d never do anything like that! That’d be like creating an FBI agent who turned rogue or an evil relative who did whatever it took to keep something secret! ;–)

So why isn’t Daniel getting any? If Robbie’s lustful yearnings are any indication (probably not!), Daniel is a catch. We know he’s more enlightened than many teenage boys. And Nicola has made sure he’s no Neanderthal! He should be fighting off all the girls in school instead of hanging around with Nathan all the time! ;–)

No, there was no physical attraction involved. It was more that he did all the talking. I had been told the computer was for her, but she was silent after that.

Grant’s medical training is telling him something isn’t quite right with Sauhn druh. He is also very familiar with how she normally moves around. I wonder if he’ll be able to accurately diagnose her before he’s told or he returns to Vermont? ;–)

Ah, yes, the test! When you’re dealing with a woman who’s going to be the one making the decision, it’s critical not to direct your attention to the man who’s accompanying her! There is a tendency to expect a woman to defer to a man, but not only is it rude, it could cause you to lose the sale! ;–) I remember being scolded for this even though I felt my attention to the man was only because he was the one asking all the questions. When someone is silent, it takes extra effort to engage them. And when people walk into a store, you don’t always know who is going to make the decisions. In a computer store, it was not uncommon for the woman to be very disinterested in what was going on. ;–)