INVU
“It’s always best to look ahead and not backwards. Possessions are not important.” --Nien Cheng, LIFE AND DEATH IN SHANGHAI My dear friend and former coworker when I worked at the phone company, Laverne Butler-Brewer-Green wrote me with some updates. I’m jealous of her accomplishment because she got that job I always wanted as a Yellow Page Field Advertising Sales Rep. She wrote on a cool Wizard of Oz postcard:
Mike,
Got your card today. It’s really good to hear about you and the Southern Cal’s great weather. For some strange reason the memory of the SRC-Smart Resource Center keeps coming back to mind. EEK!
Things are going well. Miss you, too. Wish I was there. I saw Helen the other day. Take Care,
L.B.
PS - I pinned the postcard you sent on my desk. Now I see dessert all day.
...and then, Laverne, continued on a separate sheet of paper:
Mike
...just moved into Bakersfield Yellow Pages Sales Office. I’m still getting settled. I love Premise Sales and the Fresno run is better than San Francisco or Sacramento. Paul Margolis is in Oakland Telephone sales now. Janice Hanes is in San Francisco Telephone sales, and that blond guy, Steve, from ACO is in San Jose Telephone Sales.
Jeri Brown got fired/retired. JoAnne Early is almost VP of Human Resources and I think Mary Devine is some kind of big shot in Training. Do you remember Richard Quan from CSO? He’s a Training Manager now. Karen Admas got fired from Directory Telephone Sales and the next week went to work for Pac Bell at 2150 Webster Street as a Service Rep!
I miss you and all our old times.
I still remember when we were in Hawaii together.
Photo: Laverne Butler Green
Since then, I’ve got to San Juan, St. Thomas, Canada, Miami Beach, Nassau. I’m planning a trip to Paradise. Ha-ha. I’m going to reserve passage on a Catamaran. You know, one of those 50-foot sail boats that charter out to folks for erotic ports of call.
I got your address from Helen. I hope you’re well.
Please write soon.
Laverne
Yay! My niece, Ashley, is on summer vacation, so she’s writing me again:
Dear Uncle Mike,
Hello! What’s new? Guess what happened to Grandma’s love? Mr. Mail. Well, two kids rode by and poured acid on him while he was pulling weeds. It went on his neck. If it went in his eyes, he would have been blind and he came to Grandma’s to tell her.
I got back from camping at Lake Mendicino on Friday. I went water tubing on my Aunt’s husbands’ parents' boat. I never once fell. Vinnie cut his toe and John Santino got stung by a bee.
Grandma got you postcards from her trip to Spain. Did she tell you that people walked around topless on the beaches? And Dave broke a crystal in the store and had to pay for it. He also got mugged. He wrote a letter to his Aunt Mimi and Lauren, Leigh and grandma. Read it! It said he is having an awful time here and he can’t wait to get home. How rude!
Our puppy, BABY, escaped from the fence while we were gone. Dylan and Ally ate all the Altoids.
Well, C Ya, Miss Ya, Love Ya!
Always,
ASHLEY
After reading Ashley’s letter I began to wonder if Mr. Mail made up the ‘some kids threw acid on me’ story to get some love and affection from mom. I know Mr. Mail is smitten about my mom and he’s lonely living two houses away from her. Mom has no interest in him. When I asked if she’d go out with him, she said, “Are you kidding?”
And who is Dave who broke the crystal? Mysteries never cease.
Photo: July 1997, Virginia M Armijo and Michael Joe Armijo
July 23: Mom will reunite with her schooltime chum, Isabel Perea, after 39 years in Cerrillos, NM
July 24: A LUCERO line reunion (relatives from my mom’s dad’s side, Fidel Alexander Lucero).
July 25: A LEYBA line reunion (relatives from my mom’s mom’s side, Mary G Leyba-Lucero).
July 26: A GARCIA line reunion (relatives from my dad’s mom’s side, Mathilde Garcia).
Ashley wrote again a couple of days later. How lucky am I? When she writes I can actually hear her speaking the words. I love it.
July 15, 1997
Dear Uncle Mike,
Hello! What’s new? Get my letter? I can’t believe I’m so rich! In the thousands. YES! I got a new CD. It’s the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack. It’s cool. I also got SPICE GIRLS and NO DOUBT but that was a while ago.
Why do you think we don’t like the S.G.? Are we not good enough for them? J/K
We are watching Romeo and Juliet. Next feature is SCREAM. It’s so 90s.
Do you know every CD there is? Grandma said you did. What kind of music do you listen to?
I’m making another celebrity after Grandma threw the other one, since it faded. Anyways, I needed to update it to the later 90s.
I’ll try to write more often since I just bought 30 stamps. They’re pretty. Check the envelope. I bought this stationery today.
Me and Lauren hope to visit you soon. Are you coming later in the summer? If so, when?
What are you doing this summer? Do you get vacation?
Well, See-Ya, Miss Ya, Love Ya!
WBS
KIT!
INVU
4URAQT
Always,
Ashley
After some thinking I realized her codes:
S.G. = Spice Girls
WBS = Write Back Soon
INVU = I Envy You
4URAQT = For You Are a Cutie
I wonder what KIT means? Hmm - And more importantly, does Ashley realize I envy her? INVU!
“Like therapy, MUSIC is about a relationship entirely dependent on the teacher you choose.” --Alex Michaelides, THE SILENT PATIENT
