It was a dark and stormy night ... well it had been, for an October night in Phoenix. I thought my car was gonna float away ... with ME in it! I mean, really, 19th Avenue and Grand was a bloody lake! If this weather keeps up, it's gonna be another wet Fair. I can't wait ... The State Fair will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Ferris Wheel (about the only ride I'll go on, hehehe). Okay, okay ... let's try the intro again...

Dear Diary,
Oh, I know that's cliché, too, but it fits better than the first one. Anyway, I just thought I'd tell you how this year of 1993 has treated me, so far.

Christian Armstrong, my friend since grade school -- y'know, the one who moved to California eons ago, or so it seems. He called me one mid-winter's evening, somewhere around the middle of January. He gave me great news -- he wanted to strike out on his own, and wanted to move back to Phoenix! This year has really been a roller-coaster, if I may continue with the Fair motif, but it started here on a very high point.

Of course, I helped him move his things into storage when he arrived -- it was the least I could do. He stayed with his grandparents here in town until he was able to find a good job. He didn't want to live off anyone, but he appreciated the offer to stay as long as he needed. He didn't intend to stay too long. He really wanted to make it on his own ... I admired that.

I was twenty and I still lived with my parents, which Chris could never understand -- that is, how anyone could be dependent on their parents THAT long. Little did either of us expect that this would change as soon as it did.

I turned 21 in February, and Chris and I celebrated by his buying me dinner -- he had found a job! A great one, too. So it was a dual celebration. Secretly that night, my parents were coming home from the store with things needed to throw me a surprise birthday party. I learned later that Chris and my parents had planned the surprise party together.

When Chris and I got back to my place, we weren't greeted by my parents yelling "SURPRISE," but by a totally dark and quiet house. Chris looked puzzled and jumped nervously when we heard a knock on the door behind us. A policeman standing there asked which one of us was Donovan Andrew McElroy. I stepped forward, nervously bracing myself for bad news ... I wasn't strong enough for what he told me. He said that my parents were killed in a car accident -- the victims of a drunk driver, who was also killed in the crash. Thank God Chris was there to help me. I was in such shock that my mind didn't fully comprehend what had happened, or what the future would hold. This was the lowest point on the roller coaster of 1993.

Fortunately, I had smart, caring parents who had planned for ... well, their eventual time. Funeral arrangements made in advance placed them in plots next to each other. Their wills left everything to me, as I was their only child. The house was now mine, as well as enough money to pay for the remaining part of my college education and other bills. Of course, I would need to get a job eventually. For now, however, I could rest easy, knowing that they cared this much for me. The roller coaster was tilting up again.

Chris told me that he'd be there for me when I needed him, and, well, I asked him a favor ... a major favor. I asked him if he'd found a place of his own yet. When he heard the question, he smiled, knowing what I'd ask him next, and he said he'd be happy to move in with me. I thanked him, and I felt closer to him then than I ever felt to anyone. He's a true friend.

He's lived here ever since. We've been keeping an eye on the house next door. I figure that he'll again want to move out on his own when he can afford it. The house next door was open to renters for a couple months, but now the real estate company has put it up for sale. I wonder if Chris still has designs to move there now that it's for sale.

At any rate, he's lived here for about eight months now, and I'm glad that he's here.
Update you later, Diary ... hasta!

P.S. Chris ... if you ever crack my password and read this ... I'll hunt you down and ... and ... make you watch "Beverly Hills, 90210" ... so help me!