B St John July Letter

Hi Bob,

I hope that you and Sandy are doing well. It’s been too long since I’ve checked in with you.

Congrats on the award you received reported in NDHS Newsletter. You’ve put out quality work with a heart for many years.  I’m sure proud to have you as one of my friends. I wish we didn’t live so far apart.

Wishing you the best as you continue to write about Paros. Don’t forget to send me some chapters as you complete them.  And speaking of Greece, my in-laws are on a cruise  in that area now and have been denied entrance into Athens.

I sure was happy that the Mavericks won. It’s been a long time coming. I’m especially happy for Dirk and Jason Kidd. Dirk was nothing short of amazing.

Jeri and I have been on the move a lot over these last few months. Our travels seem like a litany of bad news but in the midst of them we’ve had some rich and fulfilling times.

My sister Carol in Austin had a breast cancer operation so I’ve had four trips down to see her since the first of the year.  As tough as it’s been the bottom line is that the doctors feel good about her prognosis.

In May we went to California for three weeks to spend time with Jeri’s mom. She has Alzheimer’s but is functioning surprisingly well, living in an Assisted Living facility. While there we helped her celebrate her 90th birthday. She seemed to have a great time and in fact she seems to be more content day to day than the rest of us.

Mixed in with these trips J and I went down to Burleson Texas to spend a few days with my 53 year old nephew who is also battling cancer. It’s real iffy about his future but he has an incredibly strong spirit. He’s already lasted a lot longer than was expected. He goes for his treatments up in Tulsa at the Cancer Center of America.

To top off all these illnesses, one of my very good friends Tom Emma committed suicide on June 7. It shocked us all. Tom was a full of life, outgoing guy, 49 years old. Back in the early 80’s he was captain of the Duke Basketball team playing for Coach K. The poem “Richard Corey” by Whittier has been floating around in my mind ever since it happened. Tom is the third close friend that I’ve lost like this.    

Jeri and I are still feeling well other than 68 and 74 year old aches and pains.(me more than her) Currently we’re both trying to lose a little weight.

She’s haunting Broadway and I’m trying to keep up with her a little bit. She’s been to five plays or musicals over the last two months and I’ve been to two.  Last week we went to see ”Spider Man” which was really fun. Today we went to see Robin Williams in “The Bengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo.” Williams was great and the play very provocative.

New York just passed the Same Sex Marriage Bill. Jeri and I were happy since we have many good gay and lesbian friends. As Dylan and Seeger used to sing…”The times, they are a changin.”

Is your governor going to run for President? Should we be worried?

Best wishes to you and Sandy.

Mike