Fires Behind Us

Not all the things in the past stay the same: The coffee shop where we had our first date has been replaced with a Vietnamese Bistro, Grandma June has gone, and we have been through about about 5 cars.

Now, the place we met is gone as well. The Great Northwest Bookstore burned down on Sunday, leaving a great plume of smoke and a devastated Phil in it's wake. It's a place we've both moved on from, but we're sad to see it wiped out like that.

Everybody has a part of their past that winds up vaporized. Sometimes it's well behind and causes reflection, and other times it goes up in the now and hurts like hell. I hope Phil moves on, and does in fact retire as I know he's been mulling over for years.

I also feel for Walt Curtis, he was living there at the time, and who knows what treasures he lost. Walt's a survivor though. I'm sure he'll pick up his bottle of wine and his easy grin, then go write some thing that will challenge us all over again.

Maybe you'll get to meet both of them at the wedding, as they're on our track down and invite list.