This is just the text of a letter I wrote to George:
“I saw Darlene, Roger, Nola, Donna Jean and nieces/nephews in Seattle back a few weeks ago when I flew up to Seattle for a week-end. I had not been anywhere for so long that finally I just had to get away even for a such a brief period. I have been working two jobs because I was in transition between John George and Kaiser. Trying to coordinate with my jobs and Milton and Darlene and Roger, etc, was a real trick. I was disappointed that the one wk- end I could come up that Roger was not playing. We still had a good time going from one meal to another. We just ate and talked and ate some more.
(my Seattle trip was only $100.00 round trip).
Roger and Darlene still seem to be battling depression. It is too bad that they have to endure it. I feel pretty lucky that I rarely have problems with it- usually around February if at all. I think that for me it is related to the lack of sunshine. Of course my birthday is in Feb as well but I donÆt think that really affects me since I have quit aging a few yrs ago and am now eternally 39 like Jack Benny.
It is hard staying 39 though. I joined a gym about eight months ago and have lost a few pounds. I am doing about thirty minutes a day on a stairmaster machine and also playing with weights a little. Progress with weights seems very slow to me. My muscles just seem to get sore but never seem to get much bigger. Oh well.
Milton is still working his two jobs- both full time. He is working night shift at the US Post Office as a mail handler and when he gets off there in the morning he goes to his old job at the Holiday Inn as a housekeeper. He gets home about 6:30 and sleeps for a couple hrs and then starts all over again. I donÆt know how he does it on so little sleep but he likes the money and has paid off his debts.
I am working for Kaiser Permanente for my main job. I work four six hour shifts a week. I am an ôadvise nurseö which is totally different from anything I have ever done in the past. I give advise to people regarding medical, pediatric and ob-gyn. No psych! It has been a good learning experience. I sit at a computer and take calls and do a lot of typing. It is interesting just because it is so different and I am learning new stuff all the time but the best thing about it is that it is in Vallejo.
I am still picking up every other wk-end at my old job at John George Psychiatric Pavilion in San Leandro. I enjoy the change and like to keep some direct contact with psych pts since that is what I have done all of my adult life. Sometimes I have hated it but when I donÆt do it at all, I kind of miss it. I think I am pretty good at it since I have so much experience and so I feel a little more competent than I sometimes feel at Kaiser.”