Apologies for the late posting but it's a busy time for me. In a couple of days I'm leaving home to attend a friends birthday celebrations and I'm not home until midweek giving me two days to pack for a trip to Italy next weekend. As I'm going to be tied up for the next couple of weeks I'm posting three chapters at once, I hope you all enjoy, please let me know what you think.
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Life's Illusions - Chapter 8 - The Terrible Two?.
"Lenny what is it, is the baby ok?".
She didn't answer at first, just looked at me, no she looked through me.
Finally after I asked again she told me, "It's two".
It took me a while to process that and then it hit me, we were having twins, oh my god, twins.
The Doctor had been standing back but he now intervened, "Mr Thorn I'm afraid I was a little unsubtle in blurting it out to your wife that it was twins but I've never seen this before they look to be identical and they've already bonded like I've never seen before, at first they were turned away as if protecting something behind them and there's a shadow so I wasn't sure until they suddenly turned and came into focus.
I didn't understand until he showed me the ultrasound image of two boys high-fiving and looking directly at us, and I swear I saw a smirk on both faces.
I was ecstatic and I took Lenny into my arms and hugged her, "You okay Lenny ?, it's boys my love and they look to be the best of friends already, but right now I need to know you're okay, speak to me love".
"I'm okay PJ, it was a bit of a shock to know there were two but when I saw the ultrasound I think I lost it, the little devils, they're already having fun it's like they're already the best of friends, who the hell has an ultrasound where their unborn babies are giving it a high five", and we laughed and laughed as tears of joy rolled down our cheeks.
The next few months seemed to race by, I kept up my visits to our European regions and I was pleased with the standard and performance of all of the properties.
Although Ramon had accepted the role of CEO of SPECTRUM he still enjoyed an active role in Woodruff as European Director of Product/Practice and had only recently given up his Director role at the Torremolinas Woodruff having replaced himself first.
He had introduced his concept of self service beverages similar to the type he had installed in our Spanish properties right across Europe with variations according to location.
This was much to the delight of all as the profit margins at every property increased markedly, but just as importantly, our target market of families seemed to appreciate the hassle free system and our reputation and rebook ratio increased dramatically, suddenly we had European holiday companies banging on our doors wanting extensive blocks of guaranteed bed stock to advertise in their brochures.
Billy Fielding and Julia came to stay with us for 5 days and when we collected them from the airport we both looked at Julia with wide eyes, she was quite obviously, very pregnant.
After the initial laughing at our stunned looks and once we got home and settled in the lounge where Leo and Rosa joined us, they told us they honestly didn't know when they attended our wedding it only came to light when they returned home and Julia started with morning sickness.
Lenny and Julia's due dates were about four months apart and Julia reasoned she didn't want to go through a wedding ceremony at between 5/6/7 months pregnant which she'd be by the time they arranged everything, so they'd decided to brazen it out and wait until after the birth to be married, after all they'd effectively been together since we were all 6 years old when Julia became the 3rd musketeer to Billy and me, they'd been living together in a blatant sinful relationship for several years so it wasn't exactly a shocking story.
Billy looked at me and I could see he was a bit worried so I asked what was the matter and after a look at Julia who indicated to go up to the roof he said, "PJ can we talk, maybe upstairs in private?".
I didn't understand, Billy had never been shy or hesitant about anything and this was so not like him, we were more brothers than any real brothers could possibly be.
I decided he was trying to protect either me or Lenny from something embarrassing so I said, "No mate, we've been friends for as long as I can remember and I hope we always will be but Lenny is part of us now and we don't have any secrets from Leo or Rosa so whatever's on your mind we can discuss it here, now shoot".
Billy looked at Julia who had that, told you so look and a smirk.
It all came tumbling out in a garbled way, they wanted to be married in New York, I was going to be Best Man (it wasn't a question it was a statement) and he wasn't sure if I would ever return to the States so that was the first hurdle, but the second caused him to stutter over explaining that Josh would be at the wedding and they were both worried that fact alone would mean Lenny and I would avoid the ceremony so they'd set up a compromise contingency plan, they would be married twice if need be, the first time with me as best man and Lenny as chief bridesmaid and then a second ceremony when they returned to New York.
The silence when he finished explaining was almost unbearable and I was deep in thought but finally Lenny spoke.
"Guys, PJ and to some extend I, have been avoiding this problem for a long time and it's gotten to the point where if we ignore it then it won't need to be dealt with, but I for one am grateful for a reason to have to deal with it, Josh was my friend as well in college and I want it settled, so PJ deal with it, and when its dealt with invite Josh out here we need a catch up".
I should have been stunned but instead I was relieved, I'd been putting off the inevitable for too long, I needed to fix this.
"Billy, Lenny's right, I've been acting like Josh and I have no history, like he didn't exist and that's stupid he was an important part of my life, ok shit happened but I can't just pretend he doesn't exist".
I paused for a moment.
"I loved Josh and deep down I'll always have an affection for him, I can't just stop that feeling because of what he did, but just as I could never be with him again, we were friends for longer than we were lovers and friends don't just dump friends they try to forgive, find common ground and move on".
All five were sitting there convinced I wasn't finished and they were right, Lenny took my hand and gave a little squeeze to reassure me all was okay so far.
"I can't believe you guys would go to that much trouble just too avoid us being upset, well you can forget the contingency plan I'm going to try to make things right and we'll start with a visit to the States, it seems Lenny and I have a new house to inspect in the Hampton's courtesy of my sneaky in laws".
That night we took Billy and Julia to SPECTRUM and they were mesmerised, Billy kept saying we had to take this concept to The States it would be be a winner.
As it happened the following day there was a Woodruff board meeting scheduled and it was an unusual one.
The conference link opened from Washington with Gramps, Josh and the usual attendees.
I'd asked Ramon and Leo to sit in with me on the conference call and Gramps asked why I'd invited non executive members to be part of the meeting.
I got that he wasn't objecting (I'd already warned him about Ramon and Leo being present) he was simply clearing the decks for everyone present.
"I've asked Leo and Ramon to sit in because I have some proposals I believe they each can help us with and I felt participation was an effective way of them understanding our working practice, after all, you have to admit we are not conventional when it comes to decision making".
Gramps and Josh agreed with me and the others in typical fashion followed suit so the meeting went ahead.
We discussed the positive performance of the European Division and went over the changes mostly implemented by Ramon that had been the catalyst for those improved performance figures.
Josh wanted an in depth explanations of the changes and asked Ramon if he thought the same would be acceptable in The States which led to Josh and Ramon going quite deeply into the pro's and con's until Gramps halted the discussion and suggested Ramon should evaluate the possibility and report back.
I brought up the fact that although Leo was primarily my family Security Director he had identified a number of problems in the Woodruff system in areas that needed addressing urgently and I handed over to Leo to explain what and why these areas were critical and needed urgent attention.
Gramps asked if we had any motions to propose and I shocked the shit out of Ramon and Leo when I proposed Ramon be voted onto the Board as Global Vice President of Product/Practice and Leo be similarly voted on as Global Vice President Security both in a consultancy/advisory capacity.
Gramps seconded the motion and Josh voted yes which was the signal for all others to agree so a very shocked Ramon and Leo found themselves Global VP Board Members of Woodruff Inc, they would be employed on a consultancy basis with a pretty good fee package but not tied to Woodruff full time.
Once any other business was concluded I asked if I could have a private chat with Gramps and Josh and so all the others vacated the rooms at both locations and we were left alone.
Gramps started the conversation saying he hoped we could have a civilised conversation this time and that no one would lose their temper.
I assured him that was my intention and said I wanted to address a situation that although not of my making I was guilty of perpetuating and it needed to be cleared up.
"Josh it was brought home to me recently that this bad blood between us doesn't just affect us it affects our wider family and our friends as well and I'm sorry I let it drag on this long, I'd like for you and I to meet up if you're agreeable and hopefully we can get to a better place, what do you say?".
Josh was surprised, I could see that in his expression, " That we can get to a better place, I really hope so PJ, as for can we meet up, you bet we can, just tell me where and I'll be there in a few hours".
"No need to travel Josh we're coming to the States in a few days so I'll let you know when we arrive and we can get together then".
About 15 minutes after we ended the conference call Gramps rang me.
I wasn't surprised, he told me he was pleased I had taken the lead in trying to end this bad feeling but I couldn't let him think I was squeaky clean.
I told him that Josh had tried repeatedly to talk to me but until now I'd knocked him back then recently one of our joint friends pointed out that they couldn't invite both of us to a get together for fear of upsetting one or the other and it made me realise how we were forcing our friends to make choices they shouldn't have to make, it was unfair.
Ramon accompanied us back to the apartment to collect Raul, as usual he was joined at the hip with Reya who ruled his life and had since they first met.
On the way both Leo and Ramon did their usual 'Are you sure we can do this, speech', I replied with my usual 'with your eyes closed, response'.
When we got to the apartment Philipe was waiting for us which surprised me especially when he said Ramon had asked him to join us there.
Ramon explained that as we were all so busy he thought an informal meeting of the SPECTRUM board would be better than trying to squeeze in a formal meeting and I congratulated him on his ingenuity.
SPECTRUM in Torremolinas had gone ballistic from day one and Ramon had been pushing for new locations for some time now in order to capitalise on the media storm that was still raging around its popularity.
I realised that I was not keeping up my part of the deal because I was literally working flat out on Woodruff business and had allowed looking for new properties to slip.
As it happened Billy and I had a conversation recently where he was struggling to come up with a new concept for his Hotels which were decidedly more up market than Woodruff.
He had dozens of large ballrooms across his group that were falling out of favour as wedding and party venues because it had become popular to hire a big name location like a Country House, a Chateau or a Celebrity Chef owned Restaurant.
Although Woodruff were all 4 star rated we catered more for families on vacation.
Fielding Presidential were 4/5 star rated and catered more to the city executive, high flyers, high rollers, celebs, even visiting royalty, generally guests with much more free cash, the exact target market for SPECTRUM.
Thinking of that conversation I had an idea and asked Lenny, Ramon and Philipe if I could invite Billy to join us, they all agreed, inquisitive as to my motives.
Once Billy and Julia joined us I started the conversation off.
"Billy we talked the other day about your redundant ballroom situation and what concept you could come up with to reutilise that space, well I think we have the answer for you".
Billy was all ears and the others had already sussed where I was going with this and were nodding in agreement. I explained the set up for SPECTRUM and the phenomenal success we had encountered but now we urgently needed new locations.
Since their visit the previous evening both Billy and Julia hadn't stopped raving about the place.
"You experienced SPECTRUM last night and we are desperately looking for new locations, how would you feel about leasing us the space we need in your hotels?.
Billy looked at Julia and they burst out laughing, "Geez PJ, we spent all afternoon putting together a sales pitch for you opening SPECTRUM Restaurants in our hotels and you beat us to it, the answer is yes please", so our location problems were solved.
Before everyone headed off in different directions Ramon told us he had one other item we needed to discuss.
We had already experienced some security problems in the initial period of trading but those had been cured as a freebie by Leo and we now had a security team in place with expert training detailed specifically to deal with any eventuality by Leo.
He addressed us as one,"As you know we experienced some security problems when we first opened and Leo very kindly stepped in and solved that problem for us as a freebie, over the next 12 months we are planning to open another 10 plus units, we need security that is up to scratch in each of them from the word go to protect the high profile guests we will be catering for, so I'm proposing to ask Leo if he would take on the job of overseeing security".
He paused, I was guessing to give us time to take that in then went on.
"Unless you have any objections, which I will listen to, I will be offering him a position as Global Security Manager with a suitable salary".
As one we all agreed the proposal and Ramon headed off to speak with Leo.
I made a mental note to congratulate Ramon later, he had grown immensely in so short a time.
He no longer sought approval, once he had identified the course of action he felt was required he now advised us of his intended action and offered us the chance to object thereby validating his action.
I had an inspection tour of our English properties scheduled after our visit to The States and Lenny was travelling with me.
Leo, Rosa and Reya traveled with us everywhere, as did the four man driver/security team Leo had hired as our permanent security.
I suggested that Ramon,Raul and Philipe accompany us on this trip as it would be a multi task trip for most of us.
Lenny would be looking at properties in London for our home base as well as appointing an architect/designer to transform the Ballrooms at the Fielding Presidential in London and Manchester.
Ramon would be holding meetings with the Woodruff UK and North American Hotel General Managers to lay out how he wanted the new practices and services implemented and monitored.
Ramon was so focused he had designed, built and signed off an audit process to monitor the effects of his changes in both customer experience and profit/loss terms which he wanted reported in the same manner as the Spanish information had been reported so that it was a simple chart style comparison for all regions and easy to read at board meetings and would quickly identify any anomalies.
Ramon would also be working to approve the lease documentation to obtain the space in each Fielding Presidential for SPECTRUM, and to release the necessary funds which would allow Lenny to start conversions.
Philipe would be looking for a UK General Manager and a US General Manager for SPECTRUM to oversee the training and operation of staff for each location and again he would be exacting in his method of operation.
Leo had our personal security to worry about and now he was charged with appointing a SPECTRUM Head of Security for each region and set out his security plan, add to this that Leo would be on his first tour of Woodruff Hotels to upgrade security in both Europe and North America.
Rosa would be looking for a resident skeleton staff for whatever property Lenny settled on in London and the same for our house in the Hampton's, so all in all each of us had a hectic schedule.
I'd spoken with Ben about flight crew and suggested that everyone was included for this tour even though it took us up close to our limit, I'd be flying back and forth around The States with Leo, Ramon, and Philipe, none of us wanted to be away for more than 1 night if possible, I promised Ben once we got to the UK in about 2 weeks we could work to his schedule so he needed to ask his crew did they want a full week off or a few days when we arrived then a few days later before we returned home, we could work with whatever they wanted.
Ben started to object so I explained, unhappy staff don't give their best, just as unhappy managers make staff unhappy, the outcome in both cases is poor performance so I make it my mission to ensure fairness in all things, it produces the best results.
Ben just smiled and said, "I'm not sure at which point we died and went to pilot heaven but we surely have, thanks Boss".
Billy and Julia were flying back with us so the bedrooms on the plane were occupied by Raul and Reya in one and Lenny and Julia took the other.
Although we could fly direct, we agreed to stop off at Halifax in Nova Scotia to refuel and allow everyone to stretch their legs.
It was 8 hours before we touched down at East Hampton Airport and Ben had arranged a fleet of Limousines to transfer us to our new home .
As soon as we disembarked, Ben took off again to drop Billy and Julia into Teterboro New York where the crew would lay over at the Woodruff.
We spent our planned 3 days relaxing and getting to know our home in The Hamptons and catching up with Lenny's parents before moving on to New York for 1 week then Washington for a further week.
Leo, Ramon and I figured it was an impossible task to visit each Hotel in North America so we decided implementing the required changes in both the New York and Washington Hotels then bringing in the General Managers from all over would be most effective as they could then see the changes implemented and in action.
Josh had been nervous about offering an all inclusive package to the American market, it was an almost unknown entity but it had been marketed at the suggestion of Ramon as a stylish upmarket package, a way of managing vacation costs and it had been received with enthusiasm.
The only difference to our European Stock would be that all inclusive facilities would be available in key card accessible areas only to close of the possibility that non all inclusive guests would take advantage of the all inclusive facilities.
I'd already arranged a meeting with Josh in New York for lunch on the day before we left for Washington, I'd made a reservation at an open air rooftop restaurant where we had no history.
We came up against a problem in New York in that The Woodruff couldn't accommodate us all week and we were faced with changing hotels mid week.
I pulled Lenny aside and said we could stay at the New York Apartment if it was better for everyone, it had 5 bedrooms plus the master suite so it was plenty big enough.
Lenny asked how I'd feel staying or for that matter, even going there, she knew it held some really bad memories for me, but I told her I was okay and remarkably I was, so we went to the apartment and the flight crew plus 2 of the security crew went to the Woodruff.
The concierge in the lobby asked for identification and almost passed out when he realised who I was, he was full of apologies for questioning me but I reassured him that I preferred him to be thorough, he guided us up to the apartment and opened the door.
Handing me the key card he asked if we would need extra keys for our guests which I hadn't thought of and thanked him requesting an extra 10 key cards which would be handed over to Leo.
I started to explain the security system to Leo but he stopped me explaining he knew the layout for every property we owned in case he needed to enter without invitation.
Walking into the apartment was strange but not how I'd imagined it would be.
I nervously entered the master bedroom suite and was really pleased to feel Lenny's arms encircle my waist, " No Ghosts PJ, it's just a room, admitted an excellent room but just a room all the same, are you ok with being here?".
I looked at Lenny, "If I'd come here on my own I think my mind might have conjured up some ghosts but with you here I'm safe, I have all I need right here".
I'd tried to sell the place but the market was depressed and I'd refused 2 offers which were way below the true value, in fact a 3rd offer had come in only a few days ago and it was closer to the asking price.
The prospective buyers had followed the usual pattern and shaved the asking price by $100,000.00 which I considered rather crass when the sale price was listed at $10m it was akin to arguing for a $1 discount on a grocery bill it was a cheap trick by someone who had no negotiation skills and wanted to impress a partner.
I'd discussed the offer with Lenny and she had deferred to me saying she would accept any decision I made.
After a really nice dinner which Rosa ordered in, we were all settled in the main lounge with drinks when Lenny brought the subject up again.
"PJ I know I said I'd defer to you and accept any decision you made about this place but that was before I'd seen it, I have to admit I love it and it would fit perfectly the plan I had for a New York home so would you factor that into your decision making".
In reality having returned and not found the ghosts I'd expected I realised I'd always loved this apartment but it wouldn't be big enough to accommodate us once the twins were born, we would need at least another 3 or 4 bedrooms, " I have to admit love I'd like to hang onto it but it's not big enough we need more bedrooms so I guess it has to go, unless we keep it for now as an investment".
Lenny looked disappointed until Leo spoke, "PJ how much would you need to spend in New York to get the size of property which would suit your needs?".
I didn't get where he was going with this but I indulged him, "I'm guessing at least $20million maybe up to $25million to get the living and bedroom spaces plus staff quarters for Rosa's skeleton staff, why?".
Leo asked if we could hang on for a second and went to their bedroom, he returned with a file of papers and after searching though them he smirked, "Like I said, I make it my business to know what's happening where you are, where you're going to be and also around you, now I happen to know that your neighbours on this floor have been entered into administration so I'm guessing you could do a deal with the administrator and merge the 2 units the same way Lenny did in Torremolinas".
Lenny was ecstatic, I agreed it was a plan but I reminded Lenny she would be taking on a lot of work and at this stage in her pregnancy, did she think it was wise, after all, her own development business was rocketing, clients were crawling out of the woodwork begging her to remodel their properties, plus she had the outfitting of the new SPECTRUM premises and our London home when we found it.
Lenny's answer was typical, "Oh for goodness sake PJ I'm not exactly lifting blocks am I?, all I do is agree the plans and John takes up the reigns to complete the building so I'm hardly stressing, if you want to stay here, if and only if, we are agreed we want it, then I will make it happen, so PJ it's your decision, you know I'll support you either way".
I chuckled, it was why I loved this woman she would do for me exactly as I would do for her, anything.
"Ok let's go for it, we need to make this a 7 bedroom apartment with a separate staff apartment and another apartment to give Leo and Rosa their own place, I'll get onto buying the other penthouse tomorrow then it's down to you Lenny".
The following day I had Pip track down the administrators for the next door apartment and again I couldn't believe my luck, not only were they interested in a quick cash sale on the penthouse they had a 3 bedroom apartment right below us also in their administration portfolio so I agreed a cash deal of $10 million for both properties.
At dinner that night I announced that we had secured the second penthouse for $10 million.
Lenny and Leo looked quizzically at me, I knew what they were thinking, if I couldn't raise $10 million for my existing apartment why would I pay $10 million for next door, but neither of them was about to fall into the trap they knew I'd laid.
Finally Lenny couldn't stand it, "Ok put us out of our misery, you know what we're thinking so why?".
I thought a little more fun was in order, "As the British would say BOGOF".
They all looked at me as if I'd spoken in Swahili so I explained, "The British have a sale slogan, BOGOF, it means Buy One Get One Free, I paid $10 million because we also get a 3 bedroom apartment right below us as well and I thought that might be your service staff apartment if you link it in with a staircase".
Lenny was ecstatic, "PJ you are a whiz, I was really scratching my head to see how I could possibly make it work and you solved my problem, I'll get an architect appointed tomorrow whilst you guys are out working".
Whilst we were relaxing after dinner I tackled the subject of a traveling staff, "Rosa when we get back to Torremolinas could you put together a small traveling staff so that we don't have more than a skeleton staff at each property?".
Rosa thought about it for a few minutes and then asked me if I could lay out what I wanted covered and see if we were on the same page. I summed it up as, "A Cook/Chef capable of feeding up to 30 without problem, 2 possibly 3 kitchen helpers/Household cleaning/Serving staff". Rosa nodded in agreement, "I should be able to pull that together quite easily, though on the Chef/Cook I'll rely on Philipe's advice.
The week progressed with everyone working daily at their assigned tasks and on Friday I met Josh at Empire on Madison.
He was already seated when I arrived.
Looking at the back of his head I saw my man and for a moment I was transported back to the many times we'd dined out and I'd made it last minute to the restaurant, but that faded quickly to the man who betrayed me, hurt me, destroyed me and I went from soft to angry in a split second.
I couldn't do this, I couldn't be civil, I wanted to hurt him like he'd hurt me.
I turned and started toward the exit, his voice stopped me in my tracks.
"PJ please, I don't expect you to forgive me, I know I hurt you, but I've suffered too., I did something stupid, I know that now, I gambled everything and lost, I've lived a zombie existence since you left, please just give me a few minutes, don't leave now, please PJ just give me a few minutes that's all I'm asking".
I turned and he was just standing, looking defeated, people were looking at us. I walked toward the table and sat.
The waiter placed a glass of chilled Chardonnay before me and left us alone.
For what seemed like hours but was probably only a few minutes there was an empty silence then he spoke, "I'm not stupid PJ, I know how hard this was for you, I'm so grateful to you for even offering this chance for us to meet. For a long time I hoped, prayed that you would come home, that we could start over, but I accept now it's gone, forever".
I listened, he spoke, so slowly so quietly sometimes it was difficult to hear him but it wasn't possible to miss the broken man sitting in front of me.
"I still don't get it Josh, and I've tried really hard, I've gone over everything so much my mind hurts, was I to blame, was it something I did or didn't do. I loved you, completely, utterly, without question. I adored you, my life was complete and that was all because of you. I walked into a room and the moment I saw you everything melted away. I couldn't wait to kiss you, just to know you were there waiting for me made the most horrible day bearable. I was walking on clouds until that day, even now I can't believe you didn't love me too. That day you robbed me of everything Josh. Even the will to live. What you did that day left me not wanting to live without you. I thought so many times in those first days of just ending it all, it hurt so much".
He hadn't said anything, just sat there with tears running down his cheeks.
"I'm still angry Josh, I don't know if we can ever be friends after what you did to me, I thought this would be so easy, we'd agree the past was the past and move on but when I walked in here and saw you I wanted to hurt you like you hurt me, make you feel a little of what I felt".
Silence reigned again for several minutes before he spoke.
"PJ you just described how I've felt since that day, but I had to bear the knowledge that I caused it. I hurt us both with my weakness and I don't know why or how to even try to make it right. I hurt the one person who meant the whole world to me. I saw what I did to you and to this day I don't know why I did it, I had everything and I lost it all. The thing that finally gave me hope was that you found Lenny , it gave me real hope that maybe you could find happiness again and you have PJ, you have to move on and live your life with Lenny as you were meant to be, loved. If I know you can do that then I can at least be content that you are going to be okay".
Even now I couldn't hate him, he'd disarmed me in much the way he always could.
I was about to answer him when my phone vibrated signalling an incoming call and I noticed Lenny's name on the caller ID so I excused myself.
Walking over to the open air lounge area I answered the call, "PJ I hope you don't think I'm butting in but I wanted to make sure you were okay, I know you put out this 'it's no big deal facade' but you sometimes forget I can read you like a book so I know how much this is hurting you".
I was smiling, she'd just broken the spell, I knew I could do this now.
"Lenny until a few seconds ago I didn't think I could go through with it, but thankfully a very astute lady whom I happen to love with all my heart just called me and gave me the boost I didn't know I needed, so in answer, yes I'm good, now how would you fancy a catch up with an old friend?".
Lenny laughed and told me to come on home and bring him with me she wanted to hug him.
And so I went back to the table and a defeated looking Josh, I held out my arms and he moved into them, "Josh we were friends, we were lovers, for a while we were enemies who couldn't help but love each other now we're back to being friends and there's someone else who wants to see you and hug you so come on were leaving".
And so a fence was mended but life is never as simple or easy as you plan it to be, sometimes life's illusions just didn't work out.
TBC
Constructive comments, good or bad to cfgw2000@aol.com please, headed "Life's Illusions" in the subject box. Thanks for giving your time to read this.
Author ARB