So, cue the song Some Enchanted Evening.

 "Some enchanted evening, when you find your true love, When you hear him call you across a crowded room, Then fly to his side and make him your own, Or all through your life you may dream all alone." 

We met in a crowded room (bar), went home together and never left each others side until his death in March of 2021. How he continued to love me I will never fully understand. But he did and I did and will for all eternity.

Our first few years together were amazing, as was the rest of our time. but, looking back I understand more and more how much he loved me and what he endured until Feb of 1980. You see, even though I was now in the best relationship anyone could ever hope for I frequently would stop off for a drink or two after work only to finally stagger home and pass out on the sofa or often just in the hall.

Finally, in Feb. 1980 I was passed out in the hall one more time and he was headed to bed. He just stepped over me, stopped and said (I can still hear it today), "Jon, I love you but I don't want to bury you. You need to do something about your drinking." and went to bed.

Somehow I finally heard him and was suddenly very frightened that I could loose him. The next morning I called a friend named Mike and told him what had happened and said I really needed to do something. I was not aware that Mike was in recovery himself at that time. He suggested that we meet for lunch and so, at about noon we met at my favorite Chinese cafe. Mike said that there was a meeting he needed to go to, invited me to go with him, and we could get lunch after. As it was, the meeting was just across the street in a run down strip mall.

Turns out that it was an AA meeting and, long story short, something clicked inside me and I have been sober since. That was 43 years ago this coming Feb. 20th. In so many ways Mike was what I call my sober angel. Saddly Mike died a few years later of a drug overdose. But he led me to my gift of sobriety and I bless him for that.

Did my stopping drinking save our relationship. I don't, and will never, know. But I do know that all of a sudden my life took an entirely new track. My ability to lie my way into anything came back with a vengence and by the time we left Calif. and moved to Texas I was a senior staff member of the HR team of the largest income producing agency of the City of Los Angeles. And, by the time I retired in Texas I was the Chief Information Security Officer of a major state agency. Not bad at all for that 17 year old hustler who never finished school if I do say so myself.

Of course, there are so many parts of this story that are not told in these few blog postings and I don't know if I will ever post any of them. To be honest with you I am getting kind of bored with myself. So, starting tomorrow, I will shift gears and resume posting about my life, my growth, and just normal day to day crap for a while. Who knows, I may even make a few political comments.

Have a great day y'all.