Beth Hoffman

Well, looks like you won't be reaching nirvana anytime soon."She pushed a stray lock of hair off her forehead and sniffed. "Yes, I suppose that's true. I guess I'll just have to settle for a trip to Idaho.

Life is full of change, honey. That's how we learn and grow. When we're born, the Good Lord gives each of us a Life Book. Chapter by chapter, we live and learn.'"-

[She] was a remarkable looking woman. Remarkable in that she wasn__ what most people would call beautiful. But she oozed a raw femaleness that I was certain made most women uncomfortable and sent men walking into walls. And when she smiled. Well. That was magic.

Do you have a pet bird?' I asked, looking around the room.'Oh, heavens, no. I'd never cage a bird. I can't imagine a worse fate, can you? I bought this cage at a market in Peru several years ago. I hung it here and wired the door open to remind myself how delicious freedom is -- financial and otherwise.

That's what friends should do. cherish the good and pretend not to notice the harmless rest.

But even so, I wondered--how well do we really ever know someone?

Well, what I don't understand is why people get all dressed up and drive to church so they can sit there and get scolded. Seems to me it'd be a whole lot easier for the to just stay home in their pj's, eat pancakes, and get yelled at over the radion.

Life is full of change, honey. That's how we learn and grow. When we're born, the Good Lord gives each of us a Life book. Chapter by chapter, we live and learn.

I thought about that old saying, how we can never go home again. But I think it's more like a piece of us stays behind when we leave -- a piece we can never reclaim, one that awaits our next visit and demands that we remember.