I haven't been in the ocean since last September, when I was last in the San Diego area. When Proposition 13 passed in 1978, there were no teaching jobs in California, so I took a job in Oregon where I've remained since 1980. The ocean is too cold to go in up here. (Truth be known, I'm scared of sharks and I'm too fat to fit into a wetsuit anymore.) But I still go "home" to surf every summer. It's a lifestyle. People who don't surf don't get it. I'm really too old to do it anymore, but I can't stop even though my skills are just plain pathetic compared to back when I was in my 20's. Sigh.
I just lost my best friend, whom I met in college. She was my surfer buddy until 9 years ago whenshe was hit by a woman who was texting while driving.Her car was pushed into the path of an oncoming bus and the accident was pretty bad. Multiple surgeries, two of them botched, caused eventual paralysis and ultimately she lost her ability to speak. Nine years later, the cerebellar ataxia she developed finally killed her. So I am feeling lost, trying to fight the reality of ensuing age but forced to face the reality that I'm at the age where my friends are dying.
I miss Deb. She was beautiful, inside AND out. That's her, on the right in the picture (the cutie). And she was a better surfer than me, even though she was a regular foot. 
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