Epilogue

Yesterday morning I packed up and said my goodbyes to Sarah, Jonathan, Toby, and Jacob - thanks again to them for hosting me. I walked over to Angela's house, where she gave me a loaf of freshly-home-baked bread. We went out to lunch at Ti Couz, a crepe place that I like, and then she drove me to the Oakland airport (thanks Angela!). I finished the book "Neurodiversity" on the plane - it's about the positive sides of mental differences that we characterize as disorders. Grace and Miles picked me up at the Bellingham airport. On the way home we listened to the Giants game on the radio and heard Edgar Renteria's home run. I watched the last few innings at home, as the Giants won the game and their first World Series since 1954 and their first in San Francisco. Yay! I'm sorry I missed the celebration in SF but glad that I got a taste of the excitement while I was there.

I didn't take a lot of photos when I was in the Bay Area, but here is a link to the ones I took: http://remmel.shutterfly.com/1934

I was thinking about our group of friends that formed in San Francisco in the 1990s. I feel fortunate to have fallen in with a group who are not only smart, interesting, talented people but loyal, generous, and compassionate friends. I'm glad that the friendships we forged in our twenties have lasted into our forties, through moves, kids, and other changes. It's interesting to think about how the course of our lives sometimes hinges on small coincidences. If Eric had not seen and responded to JK's ad for a roommate posted at Rainbow Grocery in 1992, then Eric, Michael, and I (the Maine boys) would probably never have met JK and his Cornell crew, including Peter, through whom we met Leo, or Sarah, through whom we met Lindsay, Tami, and many others. When Eric and I were looking for a third roommate for the Coso house in Bernal Heights in 1993, we would not have known about Sarah, who had only recently started dating JK. The period I lived with Eric and Sarah at Casa Coso was one of the most fun times of my life.

I'm back in Bellingham now, where it is actually nice and sunny today. My mom returned to Bellingham late last night from her visit to Maine and Rochester. I am feeling better and better these days, although I still have less energy than normal and need to take periodic breaks to rest. I have become very economical in my activity - no more movements than necessary. My weight had never varied more than a few pounds since high school until this year. I lost 32 pounds (!) when I was very sick in May and June, but with the help of my mom's cooking I've regained all that and then some - I'm actually over my pre-illness weight now.

Ethan