We decided to leave about the time that Bill and John began dropping glasses on the floor to see if they would break. They did, of course.

Max drove, which was fortunate because I was getting a little off balance. From Johnny’s we proceeded to an after hours housewarming party hosted by Sam, Paul’s blonde and curvaceous girlfriend. A variety of people were attending, including several members of a tank squad who were preparing to ship out for the Gulf War at 7:30 that morning, and Craig, the former stripper and former theologian, who had made good on his threat and was forty pounds lighter and six weeks into his all alcohol diet.

About four in the morning I staggered to the car and Max drove me home. We woke up around 11:30 and ate some breakfast. As always, it took me some time to get up and running, and I had to hack my lungs clear, my head pounding the entire time- due to my well-earned hangover. As I scarfed down some scrambled eggs, I looked through the mounting pile of mail. I tossed aside the notice for late payment on the bed I was leasing from a nearby Rent-a-Center. Beneath it I found a red envelope addressed to me in Heather’s neat circular handwriting.

Grimacing, I ripped the envelope and found a sentimental card. Inside, she mentioned how she was moving, and included her new phone number. She said that she wouldn’t be able to call me as much because of her mounting telephone bill, but I was free to call her anytime. I didn’t know why she insisted on keeping in touch with me, unless it was a perverse desire to torture me; to rub salt in the wound. Maybe she wanted to see me dissolve into a spineless jelly, whining as I crawl around the floor begging for her love. She persisted in calling me to tell stories about her latest boyfriend, and how great he was. Like I wanted to hear any of it. The regular contact made it more difficult for me to get over her and get on with my life.

I accidentally found a lighter and accidentally lit the card on fire. After which, I accidentally let it burn into ash.

Despite my hangover, I volunteered to go to church with Max. During Sunday school the topic of conversation was the last days and how we can prepare for them. One of the signs of the apocalypse and the impending second coming of Christ is increased natural disasters. One of the students mentioned the increased occurrence of natural disasters in recent times. I raised my hand and pointed out that our historical records of natural disasters is rather limited and that it would be hard to accurately say that they are on the increase.

The discussion continued and I turned to Max. "Watch this."

I raised my hand again. The teacher pointed to me and I spoke. "I think that the important thing is that we live our lives like we should. None of us ever know when we’re going to go. It could be of old age. We could get hit by a truck. It could be a natural disaster, but if you’re living like you should then you have nothing to worry about."

Now I dropped the bomb. "I myself, have cystic fibrosis, a lung condition. The doctors told me five years ago that I had two or three years to live. I could die at any time. So I live with the reality that I could meet my maker at any time."

My point hit home and the group sobered. I sat down and marveled at my wisdom, then wished that I was living my life in a way so that I was prepared to meet my maker. I wasn’t following my own advice. Maybe someone else could benefit from it, because I sure wasn’t.

Sunday evening was video night at the house, and the living room gradually filled. The focus of the night wasn’t actually the movies, which was fortunate because the movie playing on the VCR was Gremlins 2, which isn’t exactly a classic. Craig was reading his poetry in the back room, while others chatted in the living room. Jeff, a thin blonde, and a close friend of Paul’s, sat morosely against a wall nursing a beer, and was almost monosyllabic in response to anyone’s conversational gambits. His wife, Dorinda, was on the opposite spectrum; vivacious and loud.

As the night wore on I started talking with Dorinda and she