Your Stories

As promised, these are comments in the form of dislodged memories and other thoughts and thinking from subscribers in reaction to the “Flying down Durant with Doug” post. And as always, I bow to your commitment. And heart.

 

“Jim Morrison was always my muse, light my fire playing on my families’s car radio at three.

I was born the 21 st Aug of 1964, 9 months to date after…never mind thats a whole other story.

Anyways, @ 23, I went to live on the Big Island of Hawaii, in Kalapana, ( No longer there taken by pele while I lived there), in the Puna District.

While hitchhiking down to Kalapana ,from Pahao, after shopping @ the super market I got picked up by a guy in a small model pick up, we chatted , he was affable.

I couldn’t help but notice his profile looked just like Jim’s, so i said when he was letting me out , “hey man you probably hear this all the time but you look just like Jim Morrison”, he laughed, and said “yea thats because I’m his brother Andy”.

I shook his hand , he let me out, and I never saw him again.”      Keith – Malibu

 

“Keith Amato: How absolutely cool. I have a picture of me at Jim Morrison’s grave in Paris, but you win this one!”     Christine – Massachusetts

 

“Wow! What an incredible journey you have taken……..Life confronts us with many pathways. Left? Right? Middle? And in the end, I don’t think it really matters, for we are destined to choose one or the other-all those pathways are ours from the beginning. Our story is our story no matter which one we choose, and all take us to where we’re supposed to be..
Your story shows your humanness in all that you have done, even while fighting your own demons….Keep fighting the good fight:-)”           Butch – Florida Panhandle

 

“You couldn’t possibly have known that a few decades later you would have a son with a disability and then a few more decades a stepdaughter as well. You got to hang with the giants in the pre ADA disability movement. I find it fascinating.”       Susan – Upstairs

 

“Buddy, I never would have met you and your family if i hadn’t first met Margaret Perry,

Margaret and I met at work in a small rural library in a small rural rown in AZ about 1 1/2 hours south of Hoover Dam.. Margaret was 25 years my senior. She loved literature and writing, Mick Jagger, dogs and chickens, parties, and gin. Margaret was called a character by many and lived life on her own terms. She was brilliant and ornery and loved to have fun.

Margaret and I developed a lasting friendship, and we had the great pleasure of creating many, many library events together. She would assist me with my events for toddlers to teens, and I would assist her with events for her book club for intellectually and developmentally disabled adults. We created tea parties, puppet shows, story times, art events, easter egg hunts, plays, kazoo bands, parades, magic shows, summer reading programs, etc. We had the time of our lives plotting and planning our latest adventures.

So fast forward to a move to Portland for me and a lottery system for library jobs. Having hit a roadblock, I decided to seek work assisting disabled adults and seniors because of my experiences with Margaret and her book club. This put me on a path that allowed me to meet many wonderful people in Portland and to contine to serve and advocate for others.

We lost Margaret this year; she will be forever in my heart. Our friendship was unexpected and certainly serendipitous. Sometimes the people we meet change us and make us better versions of ourselves. Margaret was one of those people for me.”         Joyce – Portland

 

Far out stories and warm thoughts from “Couch Surfing at 70” commenters. Every once in a while I’ll post comments so all subscribers get the chance to see what goodness comes from this give and take. If you didn’t get in on the original, please go over to “Durant with Doug” and take another look. It might just jiggle up a story of your own which I certainly hope you will add. Thanks to everyone.