Monday, October 22, 2007

Loretta


Loretta shared an office with me in graduate school where we taught entry level English. She endured my tasteless Airboy posters, my fuzzy raccoon slippers, and my psychotic student stalker. I enjoyed her Chagall prints and her calm and practical outlook on life. I always thought she'd be one of the ones I stayed in touch with, but one day she just slipped away. Her email stopped working and she was no longer at the same company. Snail mail crawled back.

Every so often, I Google her name. There's a Loretta in Ohio who's a socialite. There is a backpacking and kayaking Loretta in Michigan and sometimes Canada. There's an environmentalist in Pittsburgh (Loretta always did love a challenge). There's a notary public at some big corporation, too.

All these alternate lives. But where is MY Loretta? The Loretta who supplemented her student income by penning titles like "Hot Eager Neighbor Girl" for lonely truck drivers and urged me to do the same? The Loretta who introduced me to red wine with pasta and had an irrational affection for a smart blond Yooper boy who broke a bit of her heart? (You were too good for him!)

Where are you, Loretta?

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