Just when we were beginning to feel really terrible for losing touch with Dean Johnson, our old friend in New York, he sends this email today. Turns out it was his fault we hadn’t corresponded for a long time, not ours.

Sorry I haven’t written. For a while, I couldn’t, as a pinched nerve in the cervical spine was causing such excruciating pain in my left side I spent the summer eating pain killers and watching my hand curl up into a claw as the nerve damage progressed. Eventually I ended up in St. Vincent’s for a month where they operated on the spine and put a metal plate in my neck relieving the pressure on the nerve. I’m home now but my cats weren’t getting the attention they needed while i was gone and my poor old cat Luther died this morning. I put him in a DKNY (deadkittynewyork) bag and sent him off for cremation. And my mom isn’t responding well to her chemo so it’s been stressful. I’m a terrible pen pal. I’ll be on the cover of HX nov 26th. I talked about the old days for the first time and it was kinda fun. I believe your name may have come up. big kiss.