OUR 5TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

IN JUST 20 MINUTES, IT WILL BE OUR 5TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY....WE WERE MARRIED ON APRIL 29, 2001, IN LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, AT 11:45 pm, AT THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.  I KNOW JIMMY WILL CALL ME 2 MINUTES AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT, WHEN IT WILL BE OUR ANNIVERSARY...........

JIMMY REMINDED ME TONIGHT, EARLIER ON ONE OF HIS CALLS, THAT FIVE YEARS AGO, ON THIS DAY, APRIL 28, 2001, I WAS BUSY IN LAS VEGAS , GETTING READY FOR HIM TO ARRIVE WITH HIS 2 FRIENDS, AT 11PM, AT MC CARREN AIRPORT....I WAS BUSY GETTING THE HOUSE READY, BUYING COLD CUTS, AND ALL SORTS OF FOODS AND SNACKS, TO HAVE ON THEIR ARRIVAL AT MY HOUSE....I ALSO WENT TO THE BEAUTY PARLOR THAT DAY...SOMETHING I ONLY DID TWICE IN MY LIFE, AND IT WAS ONLY BECAUSE I DID IT FOR JIMMY....JIMMY 'S THE TYPE OF MAN WHO ENJOYS HIS WOMAN TO SPEND TIME IN THE BEAUTY PARLOR GETTING PAMPERED.....AND YES, I EVEN GOT MY NAILS DONE!

YES...I WAS ALL READY TO GET MARRIED THE NEXT DAY, TO THIS MAN WHOM I WAS IN LOVE WITH, BUT HAD SPENT ALMOST NO TIME WITH HIM, IN THE HERE AND NOW, PHYSICAL SENSE.....I HAD NO IDEA WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO LIVE WITH HIM 24 HOURS/DAY.  I HAD ONLY BEEN WITH HIM FOR THE ONE WEEKEND, AT INDIAN SPRINGS, NEVADA, 6 WEEKS EARLIER, WHEN HE FLEW ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO MEET ME IN PERSON.  BUT, I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT A SECOND MORE...IT WAS AS NATURAL AS BREATHING OXYGEN TO BECOME HIS WIFE..........

AND SO. AT 11PM, I WAS THERE WAITING AT THE GATE FOR JIMMY TO ARRIVE...I HAD BROUGHT VAUGHN WITH ME, A LONG-TIME FRIEND THAT LIVED DOWN THE BLOCK, AS JIMMY DIDN'T LIKE ME GOING AROUND BY MYSELF AT NIGHT.

WE KISSED AS HE WALKED OUT, AND HE TOOK MY HAND, AND LITERALLY NEVER LET GO....WE ALWAYS, EVEN TO THIS DAY, WALK HAND IN HAND............AND THEN WE DROVE TO MY HOUSE, AND EVERYONE RELAXED.....ATE, AND DRANK SODA......HAPPY AS COULD BE.  JIMMY PRESENTED ME A GIFT OF A PENDANT ON A CHAIN, OF A CRESCENT MOON, WITH A CRYSTAL, WHICH WAS MY SCREEN NAME, AND INSIGNIA EVEN WAY BACK THEN...HE ALWAYS LIKED TO CALL ME CRYSTAL MOON.............AND JIMMY WAS KNOWN AS "BONDSMAN," AS THAT WAS HIS SCREEN NAME, ALONG WITH WHAT HE DID IN REAL LIFE.......

THEN, AFTERWARDS, VAUGHN WENT HOME, AND HIS 2 FRIENDS WENT OUT TO THE STRIP, AND JIMMY AND I WENT UPSTAIRS TO OUR BEDROOM, BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT WE REALLY WANTED....JUST TO BE ALONE.....IN EACH OTHERS ARMS..........AND I KNEW THAT THE NEXT DAY, I WOULD BE MARRIED TO THIS WONDERFUL, EXTRAORDINARY MAN....

WELL, IT IS NOW AFTER MIDNIGHT, AND I JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH JIMMY....HE CALLED ME 2 MINUTES BEFORE MIDNIGHT, AND THEN WISHED ME A HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, AS MIDNIGHT CAME IN...

WE BOTH REMINISED ON THE PHONE ABOUT MEETING AT THE AIRPORT, ETC.........

HE WILL CALL ME EARLY IN THE MORNING, AS "IT IS OUR DAY," JIMMY STATED......."THIS WILL BE THE LAST YEAR I'LL BE IN PRIISON, AND THE LAST DAY AWAY FROM YOU ON OUR ANNIVERSARY"..........JIMMY HAS ALWAYS PROMISED TO TAKE ME TO PARIS, THE CITY OF LOVE AND LIGHTS, FOR OUR ANNIVERSARY........AS FOR ME, I'D LOVE IT, BUT IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER, AS I JUST WANT TO BE WITH JIMMY, NO MATTER WHERE IT IS IN THE WORLD.

SO, AS WE HUNG UP, JIMMY SAID HE IS GOING TO BED NOW. AND ASKED ME TO GO TO BED, AND LAY AND THINK OF HIM......AND THAT IS JUST WHAT I WILL DO NOW...........FRAN

PS..........TODAY WAS A VERY UNUSUAL DAY FOR ME.  JIMMY PUT ON THE PHONE 3 GUYS TO SAY HELLO TO ME, AT LOGAN HALL.  THEY ARE READING THIS JOURNAL, AND JUST LOVE IT!  (one fellow, i have spoken with his girlfriend several times on the phone).  AND THE BEST PART WAS THAT JIMMY ASKED ME TO CALL THE FATHER OF A RESIDENT TODAY..........THE FATHER LIVES IN LEBANON.  SO I MADE AN INTERNATIONAL CALL TO HIS FATHER, AND WE HAD SUCH A VERY NICE CHAT ON THE PHONE.  THE FATHER HAD NOT HEARD FROM HIS SON IN MANY YEARS, AND WAS AFRAID HE MAY BE IN PRISON.  I FELT SO BLESSED, AND HAPPY TO HAVE BEEN THE "GO-BETWEEN" BETWEEN FATHER AND SON..........THE COMMUNICATOR, , COUNTRIES APART.............IT'S A STRANGE LIFE, A STRANGE WORLD...AND FORTUNATELY "LOVE STILL DOES MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND!"