He put it into action one evening when she came home from work.When she came home Michele could smell something delicious coming from the kitchen and ...he threw her jacket over the back of a chair and slumped exhausted on the couch. David sat down beside her and he saw her flinch. She pulled down the hem of her skirt covering her thighs."Mom we can't keep going on like this." I want to talk to you before we have dinner," David said."You made dinner for us?" Michele smiled wanly at her son."Yes;. But I'm Jasmine now, not Ralph. Sothat's what you should call me, please." Does that go for us, too?" Roger asked."Yes. Ralph is gone, and he won't be coming back."Mom seemed a little disappointed and said, "You know, I love Ralph dearly.And I miss him, the way he was. I don't want him gone forever. It's OK withme if you still want to be him sometime."I hugged her. "*I*'m not gone, Mommy. I'm still the same person. You stillhave me. I'm just different now. Ralph turned into Jasmine. I just. Ricky Calloway. Toby and Sally. Larry. Hell, the whole football team except Mike. I had too many friends to count. "A lot of good friends." I'm also thankful for good enemies," I added, thinking about Peter King."I'm thankful for our storm and its perfect timing." I looked out the big picture window, where snow was still pelting against it. The snow had started last night. In fact, I saw the first snowflake when we were lining up for our first first-down. It landed on Alex's butt as he got into. Once again I have spent some time on this particular story and have put all the elements together and come up with what I think is the best and most accurate account. I'm not saying that this was how it really happened but I suspect it's pretty near.Once again I've decided to tell the story from her point of view mainly because that's how I heard it originally.It's a good job that other halves aren't allowed to these Christmas do's, so you can really let your hair down without being restricted.