But I cheated, I asked my great, great grandpappy.

Eh, he’s really not that great.

She was the first love of my life, for a year or so we were inseparable, and then, it all fell apart. So it goes. But they say you never forget your first, and I still have photos of her in an album from my high school and college days.

Despite being incredibly smart and talented, Annie went her own way after high school. I grew up in a community of achievers. Most of our dads were professionals or business owners, and my high school friends followed similar paths – we all went to law school, med school or B school. Annie went off to college, and she dropped out. Before I got married and moved out of town, I’d now and then run into her in one of the local bars where anyone from high school would drop in to see who was around. She was still cute and vibrant, fun to talk to, and I always left those evenings with an ache. And, then, it all seemed to change for her. There were rumors she’d started doing cocaine; that her husband left her; that she’d lost custody of her kids; that she’d moved back home and her parents had put her in rehab over and over; and that her dad was heartbroken. Then, she fell off the grid. One of her closest friends told me the last her parents knew, Annie was living on the streets. They hadn’t seen her in two or three years.

Last December, my Dad called me from his car as he was driving home from his church. “I just ran into an old lady you used to know,” he said. He’d stopped by to drop off some items at the church pantry. As he was walking back to his car, what he thought was an old woman stopped him in the parking lot. She was wearing baggy sweat pants and a big dirty parka. Her hair and skin were grey, and her cheeks were sunken. An old bag lady, Dad thought. “You’re Mr. T,” she said. “You probably don’t remember me, but I used to date BT. I’m Annie.”

And then she hit him up for twenty bucks.

After I hung up from Dad, I called our friend. I asked her to get in touch with Annie’s parents just to let them know that indeed she was still in the area and where Dad had seen her. They might have been able to track her down. Then I dug out my old photo album. I wanted to get the image of the old bag lady out of my head, and remember her the way she used to be.

I gotta give BT a big thank you for steering me to you, you are truly an asset here

Thanks Julie cant wait to see some of what you are doing.

Lemme know who ya want next!

I interviewed Tanner Mayes today, and no matter what she has been through in her life, no matter what she has done, she just wants to be accepted and cared for by someone. It’s really just that simple. But, she doesn’t know what that’s like, yet. We all want the same things we wanted when we began to experience the world. It is healthy to acknowledge that. We deserve it. How do we humanize ourselves except by being ourselves. We’re human. We can’t help it even if we want to be something else. I can’t wait to post this interview. Fucking broke my heart.