Fortunately, Teri and Carolyn could join us for dinner. It was a festive event, and I had ordered a cake and ice cream for dessert to celebrate. The g...rls had not met Teri and took to her immediately, and her youthful enthusiasm magnified their excitement. Their relationship with Carolyn was cemented with a promise to go shopping the next day on the Miracle Mile, snow or no snow. She winked at me as she said to the girls, "I think we're going to try very hard to put a dent in your father's. When I grasped the handle, it was locked. Turning, I asked if they would open it. The bartender chuckled as he came around the bar, removing his apron. As he withdrew the keyring, one of the others spoke."Ya' know, miss, you have to buy a drink if you come in." Not wanting an argument, I shrugged and moved away from the door, asking for a beer. As the bartender got it, one of the others asked what dorm I was in, and what year. I tried to pay for the drink, but one of the men laughed that he'd. No, Jimmy, most of the time, to be honest, I wouldn't have traded five minutes of those special feelings and of being so alive, not even for ten years of the rest of the time. It wouldn't have been a fair trade." I thought that maybe you wouldn't Ma, I just needed to make sure. I've been doing a lot of thinking since dad died, thinking about my life, not wanting to live like he lived or like you've lived either. I don't want to look back when I'm old and feel like I've wasted my life. I want to. . His heart has stopped!” the nurse said, raising her hand to strike again.Joey cried, “No! Don’t.”Her hand struck John’s chest, then again, and again. Each time both John and I jerked, but less and less every time she did. The shocks were overloading my senses, causing me to lose what little control I had gained.Joey grabbed her fist before she could do it a fourth time.The nurse cried to the teacher, “GET HIM OUT OF HERE!”Joey said, staring straight into her eyes, “DON’T HIT THEM AGAIN!”I was.