I have to share this with the Eons community. On February 18, 2007, I was called by the Eons Design Team to do a 90-minute interview about what I thought they could do to improve the site. Well, I gave them an earful from complaints about the faulty Search engine to the Members' need for more space to tell others about ourselves. I hate the "Question of the Day" section - "Men look most attractive in:..." and "Do you own a cell phone? If yes, how long have you owned one?" are sexist and ageist, respectively. Even my 88 year-old has had a cell phone FOREVER!

OK, then I ranted about the uselessness of the "LifeDreams" list. I felt that, at our age, we should be DOING the things that we dreamed of in our lives rather than merely DREAMING of them, which I felt to be counter-productive. Personally I just listed a few things half-heartedly, just to fill up the space. I'm not really actively dreaming of any of those things in my list.

The next day I got a call from a man that I have known since we were both 19. He was the very first musician that I'd ever met. Because of knowing him, I eventually got a job at the legendary Stax Records, where I met my husband of over 20 years. My friend has never missed my birthday, either calling or emailing or sending a card for almost 40 years. I have always done the same for him. For the past 16 years he has lived in Italy, performing all over the country, and recording music. He has lived in Naples, Sicily and Milan. He has done very well over there, pretty much in the spirit of such entertainment greats like Josephine Baker who found a more receptive audience in Paris. My friend is a true musician who plays instruments, whether than program a computer to play it for them, like all of these tone-deaf, vocally-challenged children of today's popular music.

After wishing me "Happy Birthday", we talked about what I was going to do after the trial for the man who killed my husband. The suspect, indicted on January 18th of this year in a 10 year-old case, ESCAPED a few days later and is now being hunted by the Feds. So, I'm really disgusted right now since we don't know when the trial, which was tentatively scheduled later this year, will happen. I've put in enough of my life this past decade just trying to keep the case in the forefront. I told my friend that I may not wait for the trial, that I am packing boxes to leave this God-forsaken state. I told him that I just wanted to go to somewhere in Europe.

My friend expressed concern about my health, wondering if I would be able to get the medical treatment that I needed in a foreign country for my lupus. I told him that, at this point in the disease process, neither drugs or doctors could stop the decline. Everything that could be done for me has already be done. I just needed some clean air and an easier way of life. A place where I could sit outside and breathe, without worry about some psycho, who preys on old ladies, raping me and then strangling me to death. I just wanted to sit on a terrazzo in Italy and drink in the surroundings. He asked "Where in Italy?" and I said "Tuscany". He got quiet and then said "I live in a little town called Lucca.....in Tuscany."

OMG!! Check out my "LifeDreams" list!!

Relax on a terrazzo in Tuscany - FOREVER!

I am on my way!! C-YA!