5 years ago, today

IT IS 5 YEARS AGO, TODAY.....MARCH 16, 2001, THE DAY BEFORE ST. PATRICK'S DAY, THAT I MET JIMMY FOR THE FIRST TIME, IN NEVADA.

JIMMY REMINDED ME ON THE PHONE TODAY...BUT HOW COULD I EVER FORGET ?  I MET HIM AROUND 3:30 PM, IN INDIAN SPRINGS, NEVADA....IT WAS A BRIGHT, HOT SUNNY AFTERNOON, AS IS ALMOST EVERY DAY IN THE SOUTHWEST DESERT.  IT WAS A FRIDAY AFTERNOON.  I WAS SUPPOSSED TO PICK HIM UP AT McCARREN AIRPORT, ALONG WITH 2 BUSINESSMEN FRIENDS...BUT SOMEHOW I MISSED HIM........I HARDLY KNEW WHAT HE LOOKED LIKE, AND HAD ONLY BEEN TALKING TO HIM FOR 2 WEEKS, ON THE COMPUTER AND THE PHONE.  JIMMY HAD COME TO NEVADA TO BUY A BUSINESS......HOTEL, CASINO, RESTAURANT, GAS STATIONS, CONVENIENCE STORES...AND OTHERS...HE WAS, IN FACT, BUYING AN ENTIRE TOWN.......WELL ALMOST THE WHOLE TOWN, BUT NOT EXACTLY ALL OF IT.

SO, I WENT HOME FROM THE AIRPORT, CRYING.  I DIDN'T HAVE A CELL PHONE AT THE TIME  (BUT JIMMY SOON BOUGHT ME ONE, AFTER THAT, BECAUSE HE ALWAYS WANTED ME TO BE IN CONTACT WITH HIM).........AS I GOT BACK HOME, TO MY TOWNHOUSE IN LAS VEGAS, THERE WERE SEVERAL MESSAGES ON THE PHONE, FROM JIMMY.  THEN, IN MINUTES, HE CALLED ME.  HE SAID THAT THE 3 OF THEM HAD RENTED A CAR, AND DROVE THE 35 MILES NORTH OF LAS VEGAS, TO THEIR DESTINATION.  JIMMY HAD THOUGHT I LET HIM DOWN, AND CHICKENED OUT AT THE LAST MOMENT TO MEET HIM.  I WAS CRYING ON THE PHONE.  HE SAID, "FRAN, GET IN THE CAR, NOW, RIGHT AWAY, AND KEEP DRIVING ON HIGHWAY 95 north,  TIL YOU GET HERE."  HE TOLD ME WHERE HE WOULD BE WAITING.  AND SO I DID , JUST AS HE SAID..........AND AS I DROVE, AND THE ROAD TURNED INTO PURE DESERT...I WAS JUST A LITTLE FRIGHTENED, I WOULD SAY.........IF YOU'VE EVER DRIVEN THOSE DESERT HIGHWAYS, YOU'D KNOW WHAT I MEAN...........DESERT ALL AROUND.........BEAUTIFUL PICTURESQUE PURPLE MOUNTAINS ON THE SIDES.......ALL CACTUS........ALL SAND........NO OTHER CARS...NO PEOPLE, NO ANIMALS.......NOTHING.....NO BUILDINGS, NO STORES.........NOTHING.....YOU ARE LIKE THE ONLY ONE ON THE ROAD.....IF YOU HAVE A CELL PHONE, IT DOEN'T WORK OUT THERE..................SO, I DROVE AND DROVE, ALONE, FOR WHAT FELT LIKE FOREVER, BUT IT WAS ONLY 35 MILES............GOING 100MPH, OR MORE, ON THOSE WIDE OPEN ROADS, NO ONE AND NOTHING IN SIGHT.....PAST THE PIUTE INDIAN RESERVATION.....AND THEN PAST THE PRISON  :)          GOING FAST, AND MY HEART BEATING....UNTIL FINALLY, I SAW THE LITTLE LAID-BACK TOWN OF INDIAN SPRINGS ON THE HORIZEN.........I SAW THE MOTEL, AND THE SMALL CASINO......

I MET JIMMY WHERE HE TOLD ME TO..........AT THE FRONT DESK IN THE MOTEL..........THE CLERK, WHO WAS ONE OF THE OWNERS, SMILED AT ME, AND SAID HE WAS WAITING FOR ME TO ARRIVE.  HE TOLD ME JIMMY WAS IN A MEETING WITH THE OWNER, AND WOULD BE OUT SHORTLY.  AFTER 10 MINUTES, OR SO, JIMMY EMERGED FROM A ROOM BEHIND THE FRONT DESK....ALONG WITH ROGER, THE OWNER, AND HIS 2 BUSINESSMEN FRIENDS FROM NEW JERSEY, AND THE REAL ESTATE MAN FROM SAN FRANCISCO,,,,,,I WAS SOOOOOO EMBARRESSED, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!........BUT JIMMY AND I ACTED AS IF WE WERE OLD FRIENDS, AND HE HAD A WAY ABOUT HIM FROM THE START, TO MAKE ME FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE......AND SO, HE TOOK MY HANDS, AND LEANED DOWN , AND KISSED ME......HE WENT FOR MY LIPS, BUT I QUICKLY TURNED MY HEAD, AND HIS KISS LANDED ON MY CHEEK  (TONITE ON THE PHONE, JIMMY REMINDED ME ABOUT THAT!).

AND SO, I MET EVERYONE, AND THEN ONE OF THE BUSINESS MEN, HAD A STOMACH PAIN, WHICH HE WAS BEING MEDICALLY FOLLOWED FOR, AND AS I AM A NURSE, I WENT OVER TO HELP HIM, AND SEE WHAT WAS WRONG...........AND THEN, AFTER THAT, WE ALL SEPERATED, AND WENT TO REST IN OUR ROOMS, AS EVERYONE WAS TIRED FROM THEIR TRIP.  ................AND, THE REST IS HISTORY!  :)

LATER THAT EVENING, JIMMY TOOK ME TO THE RESTAURANT AND WE HAD A NICE STEAK DINNER........EVERYTHING VERY ROMANTIC.  YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND, WE WERE GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER, AND IN ONE WAY WE FELT WE HAD KNOWN EACH OTHER ALL OUR LIVES...........I NEVER HAD TO PRETEND WITH JIMMY...I COULD BE MYSELF.  AND HE JUST LATELY ADMITTED TO ME, THAT THE ONE THING THAT MADE ME DIFFERENT FROM ALL HIS PREVIOUS GIRLFRIENDS WAS THAT HE "COULD ALWAYS BE HIMSELF WITH ME."

AFTERWARDS, WE PLAYED A LITTLE IN THE CASINO, AND THEN ONCE AGAIN RETIRED TO OUR ROOM.  ............

.........AND BELIEVE ME, IT WAS LOVE, AND MORE LOVE, AND EVEN MORE LOVE, FROM THE VERY START!!!!!!!

..........AND IT WAS SO ROMANTIC, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT, AT NIGHT, WE STOOD OUTSIDE, AND LOOKED AT THE DESERT SKY......THE MOON SO BRIGHT AND NEAR, AND THE STARS TWINKLING, AND SO CLOSE TO US, WE COULD ALMOST TOUCH THEM............AND THE QUIETNESS OF THE DESERT........JUST LOVE IT!...........AND WE WERE 2 PEOPLE WHO HAD FOUND EACH OTHER, AND WERE VERY MUCH IN LOVE..................WE WERE ONE WITH EACH OTHER.......NATURE, GOD, AND THE UNIVERSE........2 SOULS THAT BECAME AS ONE....

AND THAT IS HOW IT ALL STARTED!...........AND TOMORROW I'LL TELL YOU WHAT WE DID THE NEXT DAY, ON ST. PATRICK'S DAY................LOOKING BACK, NOT ONLY WAS IT A WEEKEND OF ROMANCE, BUT A VERY INTERESTING WEEKEND, AS JIMMY EXPOSED ME TO A DIFFERENT SORT OF LIFE I REALLY WASN'T USED TO.....THE LIFE OF BUSINESS.....MEETINGS, BUSINESS MEN, AND BUSINESS DEALS.  AND ALTHOUGH JIMMY HARDLY KNEW ME AT THE TIME, I WAS SOMEHOW ALREADY PART OF HIS WORLD....HE LET ME IN ON EVERYTHING........AND SO, NOT ONLY WAS IT ROMANTICALLY A LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR ME  :)   .....IT WAS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE IN MANY WAYS..........

.............I LOVE YOU, JIMMY.....SO MUCH.........I CAN'T STAND IT......I CAN'T STAND BEING AWAY FROM YOU.............I ONLY WISH NO ONE, NOT ANYONE, WOULD EVER HAVE TO BE AWAY FROM THE ONE YOU LOVE...........THIS IS PUNISHMENT FOR ME, YES IT IS......BEING PUNISHED FOR THE CRIME YOU COMMITTED..........AND SO BE IT.

NOW, I WILL PREPARE JIMMY'S TOILETRIES, IN A CANVESS BAG, AND THEN PREPARE HIS CLOTHES.....5 SHIRTS, 3 PANTS...........TO BE TRANSPORTED NEXT WEEK, BY HIS FRIEND, TO THE HALFWAY HOUSE..........FRAN