Three Loves (Chapter Two)

I made up my mind that I was going to be fitted for a knee-brace.


Since my dislocation of over six months ago, I had attempted to go this route once before, but the brace felt awful on me, so I hadn't bought it.


But this had taken place only a few weeks after the pop-out had taken place.


At this point, I wasn't suffering any intense discomfort--only a feeling that my knee was like a house of cards on a mostly-still day with unpredictable gusts of wind.


Given the current circumstances, perhaps, the brace would be doable this time around.


I bought the horseshoe-type brace at a rehabilitation store in Indianapolis that was owened by the Hook family. I walked around the store without holding onto my walker, and my knee felt so incredibly stable!!!


FREEDOM!!!


I still used the walker to help me to get up and down off of curbs, but, at least, I could move freely where there was a flat or slanted surface!!!


The next place I was going to head to was the State House. For the first time in months, I was going to be able to, once more, roam through the underground tunnels there (and all of the places they led to), taking in all of the excitement of government, media, and We The People in action--not to mention eating in their delicious cafeteria!


Ever since a high school art class field trip that introduced me to the excitement and uniqueness of this area, I'd been hooked and would get down there several times per year.


I called my DEMOCRAT LAWYER to let him know that I'd made a successful match with the brace. He didn't have a whole lot of time to talk at the moment, because he was meeting with some people who were giving him some advice on what to do next in order to get on with the next chapter of his life. Even so, he seemed really happy for me.




Let me make a note here that I had a very "neat, little package tied tidily up with a bow on top" sort of impression of what the immediate future held for him.


He had made some serious--but not criminal--mistakes over a period of time, but all of those mistakes seemed to be out in the open now.


This had been a very painful time for not only him but those who were close to him--but it had also had been, in part, a blessing, because it forced him to face his feelings and to go to counseling to discover how much of the life he had been leading was truly his own and how much he had merely been going along with what was expected of him in some ways while fighting against those expectations in other ways.


Although he had always loved his children and had been good to them, the circumstances of his life helped him to strengthen the bond between him and his kids considerably.


And it gave him more compassion and understanding when dealing with others--even though, according to people who knew him, he'd always been a good-hearted and helpful person even before this.


But, in his own estimation, it gave him a more humble spirit--and more of a willingness and desire to see more gray areas mixed in with the black and white of life.



Keeping what I've just told you in mind, I think you could see how I didn't really understand that there were quite a few more loose ends to tie up--a process that would end up taking several years.



There had been a time when my friend had considered running for Governor at some point--and that, in the back of his mind, the sky was the limit after that.


But all of this had changed now, because he knew it wasn't realistic to expect party support in spite of the fact that he was still a very capable person when it came to holding higher offices.


It seemed to me that opportunities lost would be punishment enough for him, as he was truly sorry for the wrong things he'd done.


I was behind him 100% as he took steps to rebuild so many parts of his life from scratch.


For starters, he was going to go back to practicing law in plain and simple terms without fancy titles of bygone days (e.g. judge, district attorney).


He was given an offer right off to come and work in this beautiful building (a tall, round, mirrored tower) with some other more-established lawyers (more established in the area, that is). He thought the building was beautiful and he would enjoy working there.


The office suite was several stories above ground-level, and he could look out over his surroundings while he worked. He told me where it was, and I went to look at it, too, and my impression was "WOW!"


Later, he began to see the offer for what it was: He would be required to sign a year's contract, would be paying a four-figure monthly rent, and wouldn't be guaranteed getting any cases assigned to him unless the other lawyers had more than they could handle.


They must have seen him as desperate! Thank God he WASN'T!!! He ended up telling them that he thought he'd look around a little bit more before taking them up on their offer--knowing that he would look around until pigs flew before he got back with them!




But I've jumped ahead a little in my story at this point.



The day I got my new brace was very satisfying for me. I enjoyed being back at the State House again and walked around so much that I ended up wearing out my legs for awhile.


But, by the time I returned home that evening, I was ready to surprise my mom, who was coming down to take care of me as usual.


I had her to sit down on the couch beside me to look at part of a favorite VCR tape that had footage of this special guy on it as part of a news story.


After I started running the tape, I walked over to the TV and kissed his image.


It didn't register for a split second--then my mom exclaimed, "You're not using your walker!!!"


After that, I would still take the walker with me when I went out for help in going into places like fast-food restaurants and stores where the surface might be uneven, but, even then, I only used it to change levels or to steady myself and didn't have the dependence on it that I did.


And, around home, I didn't use it at all!


Meanwhile, my DEMOCRAT LAWYER and I were talking more and more. I would drive to Indianapolis where the calls would be local so that we could talk more without having to worry about running up a big bill--though I still called him from home, too.


One evening, I was in the Hook's Drugstore located in a strip mall just north of Hwy 37 on 71st (?) Street, and he mentioned that he'd like to meet me soon and get to see the person he'd been talking to--and it seemed to me that I detected something in what he said (the way he said it) that was saying that he was also starting to have romantic expectations about us.


Yes! I'd finally come to terms with the fact that I couldn't help that I'd developed feelings for him beyond what I'd expected to when we first began talking, though I'd never really come out and told him this, as I didn't want him dealing with any extra baggage than he was already dealing with.


That I'd fallen for a guy through no fault of his own other than his being the wonderful person he was--a man who was both in the process of (but hadn't gotten to the place where it was final) ending a marriage officially that had only been alive on a piece of paper for several years and still licking fresh wounds over being ditched in a very nasty way by the woman he'd been genuinely in love with for a number of years--really wasn't something that I wanted to have him feeling troubled over.


If it were meant to be that what we had together would go beyond friendship and, hopefully, into marriage, there was an entire future before us that this could happen in.


After I hung up from this guy, I called the next person on my list (I had several friends and relatives in the Indianapolis area, and, for years, I would drive into a local calling area with a whole bunch of quarters and talk to several of them during a given period of time) who happened to be my cousin, Denise.


With Valentine's Day just past, the subject of romance came up. Although she was very much in love, she also mentioned that people like myself and Uncle Kermit (who had never married) also had a lot of advantages in how we didn't have to worry about answering to another person and could live very independent lives.


"Don't rule marriage out for me. . " I protested.


"Well, you ARE 37 years old--but, if you DO happen to end up with someone special, I'll dance at your wedding!" she replied.


"In THAT case, you'd better put on your dancing shoes and start practicing. . ."


"WOW! Does that mean there's somebody special in your life now. . ."


"We're just friends at this time, and I know he's not ready to be more than that, but I can always dream!"


"I'm so happy for you!!!" Denise exclaimed. "I'll be keeping my fingers crossed!"


"Well, don't expect it to happen overnight--if it ever does!" I told her.


That evening, I drove home with stars in my eyes.


The new USA GROUP building that was to the south of I-69 was now in the skeletal phase of construction. A number of construction-type lights were placed in several places on the structure so that low-flying planes would know that it was there when out at night.


To me, it looked like some kind of enchanted castle that seemed to go with my enchanted life!


TO BE CONTINUED. . . "Three Loves (Chapter Three)"