ST. PATRICK'S DAY....2001

I'LL CONTINUE MY STORY, ABOUT WHEN WE FIRST MET, 5 YEARS AGO, MARCH 16, IN NEVADA.

AS I TOLD YOU IN THE LAST ENTRY, WE MET IN INDIAN SPRINGS, NEVADA, ON MARCH 16, 2001.  THE NEXT DAY WAS SATURDAY, ST. PATRICK'S DAY.  WE WOKE UP EARLY, BUT JIMMY LET ME SLEEP, AS I'M A LATE RISER.  HE GOT UP AROUND 6 OR 7 AM, AND WENT TO THE DINING ROOM, AND HAD BREAKFAST WITH HIS 2 BUSINESS PARTNERS, WHOM I WILL FROM HERE ON, CALL "FRIENDS."  THEN, THEY WENT AROUND THE PROPERTY, AND LOOKED AT THINGS....IT WAS ACRES AND ACRES...AROUND 27, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY.........THEN, AROUND 10 AM, I AROSE AND GOT DRESSED, AND JIMMY TOOK ME INTO THE DINING ROOM, TO HAVE BREAKFAST...OF WHICH I ONLY HAD A CUP OF COFFEE...AND WE SAT WITH ALL 3, INCLUDING THE REAL ESTATE AGENT...EVERYONE WAS HAPPY, AND TALKING.  AFTERWARDS, WE GOT IN MY CAR, AND I DROVE EVERYONE AROUND, AND WE LOOKED AT THE REST OF THE BUSINESSES, INCLUDING A BEAUTIFUL INDIAN ARTIFACTS STORE, AND A MOBILE HOME PARK. IJIMMY BOUGHT ME SEVERAL THINGS IN THE INDIAN ARTIFACTS STORE, INCLUDING SOME TOURQUISE JEWELRY, AND OF COURSE CRYSTALS...ONE OF WHICH HE KEPT IN HIS POCKET.   WE LOOKED AT THE 2 GAS STATIONS, THE 2 CONVENIENCE STORES, AND THE EXTRA LAND THAT WAS THERE, IN WHICH THEY WERE PLANNING WHAT TO BUILD THERE.  ALSO, THE TRUCK STOP...

AFTER THAT, WE DECIDED TO DRIVE INTO LAS VEGAS.  SO I LED THE WAY, WITH JIMMY BY MY SIDE, HIS 2 FRIENDS IN THE BACK, AND THE REAL ESTATE AGENT, SAM, FOLLOWING IN HIS CAR.  WE GOT INTO LAS VEGAS, AND DROPPED EVERYONE OFF AT THE "BOULAVARD MALL," AS THEY HAD SOME SHOPPING TO DO.  THEN, I TOOK JIMMY TO MY TOWNHOUSE, TO SEE WHERE I LIVED.......WELL, PRINCE , MY DOG, NEARLY ATTACKED HIM, ON THE STAIRCASE, AS HE TRIED TO GO UPSTAIRS.  AFTERWARDS, JIMMY ADMITTED TO ME, THAT THE ONLY POSSIBLE OBSTACLE IN OUR RELATIONSHIP, COULD BE PRINCE, AS HE WAS AND STILL IS AN AGGRESSIVE DOG.  HOWEVER, NOW, AFTER SO MANY YEARS, BOTH LOVE EACH OTHER DEARLY, AND IN FACT, PRINCE LISTENS MORE TO JIMMY, THAN TO ME.

AND SO, WE BOTH WENT UPSTAIRS, AND I SHOWED JIMMY THE COMPUTER ROOM, WHERE I WAS TALKING TO HIM FROM, AND HE USED IT FOR A WHILE, TOO.   THEN WE PEAKED IN MY BEDROOM, AND I SHOWED HIM THE COMFORTER I HAD ON THE BED, THAT I HAD RECENTLY BOUGHT, DARK BLUE, WITH YELLOW MOONS AND STARS, ON IT.  HE WAS FASCINATED WITH THAT COMFORTER, BECAUSE I LAID IN BED, AND SPOKE TO HIM ON THE PHONE FROM THERE, AND ALWAYS SAID I WISH HE WERE HERE WITH ME. 

SO, AFTER HE SAW THE HOUSE, WE LEFT RIGHT AWAY......HONEST!.....AFTER ALL, HIS FRIENDS WERE NOW WAITING FOR US.......SO WE PICKED THEM UP, AND THEN WE DECIDED TO DRIVE TO PAHRUMP.

FOR ALL OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW, PAHRUMP IS A SMALL TOWN ABOUT 40 MILES FROM LAS VEGAS.  IT WAS VERY SMALL WHEN I MOVED TO VEGAS IN 1992.  IT HAD NO TRAFFIC LIGHTS, NO SIDEWALKS, ETC., BUT IN THESE PAST YEARS HAS GROWN A LOT.  IT IS THE HOME OF ART BELL, THE RADIO BROADCASTER...."COAST TO COAST."....AND HE ACTUALLY BROADCAST HIS FAMOUS SHOW FROM HIS HOME...HIS SHOW CAN BE HEARD ACROSS AMERICA...HE TALKS ABOUT SUCH SUBJECTS AS THE PARANORMAL, UFO'S , TIME TRAVEL, OTHER DIMENSIONS...CROP CIRCLES, ...ALL THE STUFF THAT MOST PEOPLE THINK IS WEIRD, BUT IN WHICH I ENJOY....HIS SHOWS HAVE GUEST SPEAKERS, MANY OF WHOM ARE WELL KNOWN AUTHORS, SCIENTISTS, AND THEY CAN PROVE ALL OF THESE THINGS SCIENTIFICALLY....SO I FIND IT EDUCATIONAL.

SO, ONCE AGAIN, I LED THE WAY........THROUGH THE BARREN DESERT......TO PAHRUMP.  ONCE THERE, WE STOPPED AT "TERRIBLE'S CASINO," AND HAD LUNCH AT THE RESTAURANT...IT WAS OUR FIRST CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE OF THE DAY!...IT WAS DELICIOUS.  EVERYONE WAS HAPPY, TALKING, JOKING...WE HAD A GREAT TIME.  OF COURSE, EVERY MOMENT JIMMY HELD MY HAND, AND HELD ME CLOSE TO HIM...HE NEVER LET ME GO FOR EVEN A SECOND.........

THEN, WE ALL DROVE BACK TO INDIAN SPRINGS......LATER, WE WERE ONCE AGAIN HUNGRY, AND ALL MET FOR DINNER IN THE RESTAURANT...JIMMY AND I HAD OUR 2ND DINNER OF CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE.....WELL, AFTER ALL, IT WAS ST. PATRICK'S DAY.

WE PLAYED IN THE CASINO, ....I LIKE VIDEO POKER, AND THEN WENT TO REST.  WE WOKE UP, AROUND MIDNIGHT.  JIMMY SAID TO ME, "FRAN, ARE YOU UP TO DRIVING BACK INTO VEGAS, AT THIS TIME OF NIGHT?"..............SO, WE DROVE IN THE PITCH BLACK DESERT, UNDER THE STARS AND MOON, WITH ONLY OUR HEADLIGHTS LIGHTING THE WAY.  IT WOULD NORMALLY BE A LITTLE SPOOKY...BUT WITH JIMMY IT WAS FUN AND ROMANTIC.  I WAS NOT THE LEAST AFRAID...WE WERE THE ONLY CAR ON THE ROAD, FOR THE 35 MILES........OUR CELL PHONE DIDN'T WORK OUT THERE.

SO, WE ARRIVED IN VEGAS....WE WENT TO CHECK ON THE ANIMALS, AND WALK PRINCE.  THEN WE WENT TO KINKO'S, WHERE JIMMY HAD TO MAKE SOME COIES OF DOCUMENTS.....

WE DROVE BACK TO INDIAN SPRINGS, IN THE DARK OF THE NIGHT.........2 PEOPLE VERY MUCH IN LOVE..........

ONCE AGAIN WE WENT TO BED, ONLY DREADING TOMORROW, IN WHICH HE HAD HIS FLIGHT BACK TO JERSEY, IN THE LATE AFTERNOON.

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT ENTRY, AS I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT OUR LAST DAY TOGETHER, AND HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS TO PART .

WELL, AS FAR AS TODAY, THE PRESENT DAY....ST. PATRICK'S  2006.........JIMMY CALLED ME ONCE TODAY.  HE GAVE ME A LIST OF SOME MORE THINGS TO GO BUY HIM, WHICH I WILL DO TOMORROW.....A WATCH, A RADIO...ALL OF WHICH KINTOCK APPARENTLY STOLE, WHEN HE WAS SENT TO PRISON...A PAD OF NOTEBOOK PAPER....THINGS LIKE THAT.

JIMMY SOUNDED HIS USUAL HAPPY SELF....I KIND OF FEEL DOWN AND OUT........PEOPLE KEEP ASKING ME, IF I FEEL HAPPY, ABOUT JIMMY LEAVING BAYSIDE.  SO I EXPLAINED TO JIMMY, THAT IN REALITY, THE WORD 'HAPPY" DOES NOT EXIST IN MY VOCABULARY.  THAT AFTER 3 YEARS OF GOING THROUGH THIS PRISON PROCESS, I FIND IT HARD TO EXPRESS MANY EMOTIONS.........I HAVE BECOME AN EMOTIONLESS PERSON.  THINGS THAT AFFECT OTHER PEOPLE, LIKE HOLIDAYS, DON'T AFFECT ME ANYMORE, BECAUSE I AM JUST NOT PART OF IT.  SO, WITH JIMMY LEAVING BAYSIDE, FOR ME, IT ONLY MEANS TO BE PULLED FURTHER ALONG, IN THIS PROCESS....IT ONLY MEANS TRANSPORTING HIS CLOTHES, AND PERSONAL ITEMS AROUND THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, AS THEY PULL HIM ALONG, INSTITUTION TO INSTITUTION........

SO OF COURSE I AM HAPPY HE WILL LEAVE IN 3 DAYS FOR THE HALF-WAY HOUSE, , BUT IT IS DIFFICULT FOR ME TO EXPRESS HAPPINESS.....SOME HERE DEEP INSIDE OF ME, I THINK THERE IS HAPPINESS, BUT I AM AFRAID RO EXPRESS IT, BECAUSE FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY ARE ALSO THERE, HIDDEN AWAY.  I AM, IN REALITY, AFRAID TO BE ME...........I AM ONCE AGAIN LOST....LOST IN THE SYSTEM......UNABLE TO CLIMB OUT, AND GET AWAY FROM IT ALL........SO, I STAY CONNECTED TO JIMMY, BECAUSE HE IS MY ALL AND ALL..............TODAY, I ONLY FEEL DEPRESSED, AND LIKE CRYING.........BUT I CAN'T EBVEN CRY ANYMORE.

IN THAT WAY, I HAVE A WONDERFUL HUSBAND, WHO LISTENS TO ME....I DON'T HAVE TO PRETEND ON THE PHONE ABOUT BEING HAPPY, ETC....SOME WOMEN WHO TALK TO THIER MEN ON THE PHONE, CENSOR WHAT THEY TELL THEIR INMATE, AFRAID TO UPSET THEM....BUT THE BEAUTY OF JIMMY AND I, IS THAT I CAN SAY WHAT I FEEL, EVEN THOUGH HE IS IN PRISON.......WE UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER .

 

AND SO, JIMMY ASKED ME TO PLEASE PUT ASIDE EVERYTHING TODAY, AND JUST GO FOR A WALK OUTSIDE WITH PRINCE.............AND SO, THAT IS WHAT I DID.........BECAUSE JIMMY ASKED ME TO.

FRAN