When I was growing up, there were no cell phones or texting. Some people actually stayed in touch by writing letters. One aspect of letter writing was the choosing of stationary. I liked the masculinity of this “paper bag” stationary that I must have bought on Polk Street. This letter was written from Sanchez Street where I had been staying with Louise again before going on my first trip to Europe. Louise was moving to New Mexico to be with her future husband and was trying to convince me to stay in the Sanchez Street flat with a druggy female friend of hers that, either had a baby or was pregnant at the time. I don’t remember exactly but there was no way that I was going to stay in that flat with that women. I only wanted to stay temporarily before leaving for London.

It was also one of the only times in my life that I was ever laid off after working in health care. I believe I was only laid off for a week or two and then I would be resigning to spend the summer traveling through Europe.