... Gabriel Morrishad to head back to Eugene to go to work, she decided to come hang
out with me for a little longer. Lisa kept the car they were road-trip-
ping in and continued camping with some other friends of theirs.
Amy and I then drove back into town, and she stayed at my place.
We spent the next few days hanging out a lot—walking around town,
talking, playing games, napping and cuddling, before I went to work
in the evenings.
A few days later, Lisa came back into town to pick Amy up and,
sadly, I hugged them both goodbye, as they headed back north to
Portland. Their plan was to stay with Amy’s aunt in Portland for a
while, get jobs, make a little money, and then continue their road
trip full circle back to Texas. I hoped they would stay there for a
while, so that I could come up and visit them in Portland, or else they
could come down to Eugene—whatever would give Amy and me the
chance to spend more time together.
About a week after Amy and Lisa went up to Portland, I started a
five-day fast. I felt the need for an internal cleansing, both physically
and mentally. I stopped eating solid foods and drank only water and
juice (and lots of it) for the next five days. I only worked delivering
pizza two evenings out of those five days, so I was able to spend
most of the time at home, sleeping, reading, writing in my journal,
going for short walks, and generally trying to stay calm and centered.
Perhaps subconsciously I was preparing myself for changes that I
sensed lay ahead.
At the time that I was doing this fast, Julia, the sister of a friend
of one of my housemates, was staying at our house. She had just
moved to Oregon from the East Coast after breaking up with her
boyfriend. She needed somewhere to crash for a few weeks while
looking for her own place and starting a new life for herself in Or-
egon. This didn’t bother me at all, considering that I’d stayed with
friends myself for a while when I’d first moved to Eugene, so I could
relate. Besides, there were always people coming and going, with
the friends and family of four different people stopping by. It was
a roomy house, and Julia was a kind enough person, although I did