THE TURQUOISE WOMAN BEAT ME TO IT

I woke up this morning feeling like I was a horse that had been rode hard and left wet!

The coughing wouldn't let me be, echoes of that pneumonia that had tried to take me way back in that ice-bound Detroit basement apartment.

So I fed Gypsy, my cat, wearing her surgical mask to keep my germs to myself. I sat down at my laptop to see what mischief I could find on the web.

Then, I found Jules had written a lovely post about THE BEAR WITH TWO SHADOWS :
http://fragilemouse.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-got-bear-to-pick-with-you.html#more

Summer Ross was the next one I visited to find this :
http://summersvoice.blogspot.com/

I next checked up on my friend, Olivia Herrell :
http://thatrebelwithablog.blogspot.com/2011/02/bear-with-two-shadows.html

Jessica Bell next made my morning so much brighter despite the coughing :
http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/2011/02/there-are-certain-ways-of-marketing.html

Nicole Ducleroir was the next friend who became a crusader for me :
http://nicoleducleroir.blogspot.com/

All this after, Elliot Grace had my back like a Texas Ranger of old with his post :
http://elliot-grace.blogspot.com/2011/02/rolands-two-shadows.html

And after WordsCrafter gave me a shout-out a few days ago :
http://therainydaywanderer.blogspot.com/

For once, I was at a loss for words. Gypsy fell over in a dead faint : me being speechless doesn't happen all that often. LOL.

I, alone, am left of my childhood LEAGUE OF FIVE. No family survives. Those close to me from childhood and loves have all been taken before their time.

Like a lone turret of a sand castle, looking at the ruins of sand left by the sweeping tides, I sometimes feel quite alone.

My friends, Elliot, Jules, Summer, Olivia, Nicole, WordsCrafter, and Michael (who, even now labors to remove the flaws from my book's format and is the genius behind the design of my book) -- you have reminded me that he who has friends is never alone and is far richer than Midas ever thought of being.

Thank you. Estanatlehi blows you a kiss. Hibbs chuffs a smile your way, too.

- a very moved Roland