Ryan 7

Dear Zöe,

I would say that the cat's out of the bag but I'm afraid there are many bags, many cats and they're all out!

Some of my favorite books, plays and movies are about people who miss each other by just this much, driving the reader or audience crazy until they meet in the end.

Zöe, I don't want this to be the end for us, but a beginning.  Not like starting over, "Hi, I'm Ryan.  Hi, I'm Zöe." because you can't go back in time and even if you did, you'd just end up in the same place.  You have to do something new, deliberately, consciously.

By a new beginning I think about the last Calvin and Hobbes cartoon where it just snowed and they're at the top of this hill on the toboggan.  Calvin says something like, "Look at all that snow.  Like the old world is totally new.  A giant blank sheet of paper to draw on.  Come on, Hobbes, let's go exploring."  And they disappear down the hill.

That's what I mean by a beginning.  Put what we've done, said and written into a box, and set off down that hill.

Speaking of which, I assume you'll be attending Vail Expo.  I think I'll wander up that way, myself, if only to offer my services running interference with Coffee Guy.

Hope to see you there.

Ryan