A warm body

The other day I was talking to a woman who is in the process of separating from her husband, although he is resisting moving out. She said what she is afraid of most is being alone and although the relationship is terrible, she knows what she will miss is... "a warm body."

It is hard to give up that human contact, even if it isn't ideal.

Yesterday, my friend Sheila and I went to visit my first boyfriend, Warren, and his wife, Barbara. Warren and I went steady (remember that?) in ninth and tenth grades and I loved him and his entire family. They were in my life when things were difficult for me and they practically adopted me. They were the first family I met in real life that could have qualified for their own TV show. I never saw so much love and warmth in a home. His parents adored each other and all their kids, they had five - two sons and three daughters. Warren had a band in high school called "The Lost Chords" and his passion was music.

His first marriage was to someone we went to high school with and they had two daughters. The marriage didn't last and they had some very rough years. Fortunately, both daughters have done really well and are thriving. One of them is in medical school and the other is in business school. I met them when they were little girls and I hope to see them again someday.

Seventeen years ago, Warren met Barbara through a friend and they have a great relationship. She is lovely. Barbara is a social worker and Warren works as a mortgage broker - but his passion is still music and he is extremely talented. He wanted Sheila to come out and record in his studio (years ago she sang in his band). My job was to bring her there. After we arrived by train, Warren drove us around Plainview, the town we all grew up in. We saw our old homes which looked completely different, and we even went into our old high school.

Then later, after we had a delicious lunch, Warren and Sheila recorded a song Warren had written and then Barbara, Warren and I sang back-up. He has a great studio in the house.

It turned out to be a really fun day and I guess one way of having warm bodies in our lives is going out and finding them.

Which brings me back to that saying I wrote about a few months ago, "Go where it's warm."