I didn't have long to wonder about it. When we walked out of the building into the bright daylight, the mystery was solved. Jim was sitting on a broad...balustrade flanking the entrance to the building. He was trying to look casual, but I knew he hadn't been there for very long."Hi, Jim!" I said."Hey, Sam. Hi, Steve."Steve returned to his gentlemanly ways. He held out his hand to Jim and they shook. Neither tried to break the other's hand or anything foolish, so I was relieved. I hadn't been sure. Where, oh where, has my little dog gone?Where, oh where, can he be?With his ears cut short, and his tail cut long,Oh bring back my doggie to me.About my dad singing? Gravel in a tin can.Mom was the one with perfect pitch ... flat.Six months getting my face rehabilitated had left me with a firm commitment to the proposition that all food is not created equal ... The first building to the left of the hospital property was the most popular Mickey Dees in town.The drive home was a typical winter. I know it’s childish, but she has no right to use such an intimate nickname.“Ok,” she says. “But you need to talk to me.”“I don’t need to do anything,” I snap back angrily. “You’re not my dom and you’re definitely not my girlfriend.”She doesn’t say anything back, which is infuriating and also telling. If I had something to deny, I wouldn’t be waiting for the other person to start the conversation.“Just tell me so I can move on from whatever this was. You’re married?”“Yes, but it’s so much more. " I looked down atthe earrrins, and, true to her word, they were small, maybe half-inchloops. I hadn't expected Matt to be so kind, after a bet on his belovedPats, but, hey, I wasn't about to complain!Two piches later (they weren't bad at all), and I admired my newearrings in the mirror that the piercing woman thoughtfully provided."Not bad, actually" I said " I might just keep them even after nextseason starts!" I'm glad that you like them," said the woman. "Now, let's do the rest." The rest,".