I have fond
memories of the Glen Helen faire of 2004.
The faire was excellent, and I made a
fateful decision afterwards. You see, my
wife,
Claudia (since deceased) had been sick
for many years. So sick that she couldn't
leave our apartment easily. She'd been
hospitalized nine times, including two
multi-day comas. My life consisted, up
until this faire, of caring for her, going
to work and catching a movie whenever I
could. I felt like I couldn't stay away
from her side for very long, as she might
get a severe asthma attack and die while I
was away.
Every year, however, I took one day and
visited the faire (this year I managed two
visits). I looked forward to this time all
year long. It was a special, magical place
for me. The day I could play in the faire
and not have a care in the world.
Anyway, I took a wrong turn on the way
home and wound up taking surface streets
instead of the freeway. It was a much
longer route, but the scenery was
beautiful and everything was peaceful. I
felt more at peace than I had in a long,
long time.
Mostly, I had time to think, for the
first time in a very long time I was
completely by myself, without a care in
the world. My cell phone didn't work, I
couldn't receive any pages and I was by
myself.
I decided it was time to change my
life. I liked going to the Faire. It was
fun. I liked getting out, and I concluded
that for my own sanity's sake I had to do
more of it.
I had a new purpose: visit some places,
take pictures, and bring those pictures
home to Claudia. When we got married, I
had a vision of us traveling all over the
place together, but her illness prevented
much of that. However, there was no reason
why I couldn't travel by myself and bring
the outdoors home to her.
And that's exactly what I did. I
visited the
outdoors,
zoos,
historical sites and
other places with more and more
frequency, until it became a very regular
thing for me. Claudia seemed to enjoy the
pictures, and I felt myself becoming more
and more sane.
After Claudia passed away in February
of 2005, I continued (and vastly
accelerated) my travels. I also made a
point of visiting all of the
Renaissance Faires I could find
throughout Southern California. This
helped me stay sane during a difficult
year, and it helps keep my spirits up and
my life stable.
