23. PRESENT: Time to Say Goodbye

Saying goodbye was bittersweet. The three of them sat on the couch with their arms around each other for the last time. They all promised to write and call and visit, but they knew they were embarking upon a totally new chapter in their lives.

Of course, every ending also meant a new beginning… Once again, Chrissy went over in her mind her reasons for moving back home.

When she had first moved here at twenty-two, she'd felt like a fish out of water. She'd never been out of Fresno or stayed overnight anywhere but her parental home. She wasn't even too sure she wanted to move away.

Strangely enough, it was her mother's idea. Mrs. Snow thought her daughter's life was too humdrum and monotonous, and wanted her to get some real-life experiences before she settled down with a husband and family.

Reverend Snow wasn't too happy about that. However, he was strict but wise, and his wife managed to convince him that their Chrissy was a good, decent, pious girl who would not be corrupted by the heinous influence of a big city. He half-heartedly agreed but warned his daughter that he would be making surprise visits every now and then.

Her first years in L.A. were hard. Still, she managed to complete a secretarial course and find a job. But she often felt so lonely and homesick that a few times she came close to giving up and going back home.

It all changed after she met Janet and they moved in together. Her new friend was always there for her whenever she needed help, support or just a chance to vent. In a way, living with Janet made Chrissy feel almost as cared for and protected as living at home with her parents. Except, of course, this was much more fun.

And when Jack was added to the mix, life got really exciting…

Chrissy admired Janet a lot. That tiny girl seemed to have no fear – other than an irrational fear of mice. She could stand up to a bully, put a jerk in his place with just a flash of her eyes, sort out a difficult situation with their grouchy landlord… While Chrissy hadn't moved all that far away from home, Janet's home town was – Chrissy had never been able to figure out its exact location but it had to be somewhere near the North Pole or maybe Canada. And she'd only been eighteen when she had taken that plunge.

However, while she was all sunshine and blue skies most of the time during the day, night was a different story. Janet's sleep was so disturbed that Chrissy sometimes couldn't get any rest because of her. All night long she tossed and turned, mumbled words Chrissy couldn't make out, moaned as if in pain and sometimes even cried in her sleep.

Chrissy remembered one of her father's sermons mentioning "tortured souls". She wondered if her friend could be one of those.

Anyway, she would soon be on her way home. During her recent visit, she had reconnected with a few of her old girlfriends. They were all now married with kids. And Chrissy, who had always assumed she would have a family by her mid-twenties, came to realize it was not going to happen in L.A. She had no shortage of men who were attracted to her. But they were either pretentious snobs who were into things she knew nothing about, or only interested in getting under her skirt. And she had learned her dad's lessons far too well to go along with that. Also, not a single one had ever mentioned marriage.

She hoped that now, perhaps with her parents' help, she would be able to find a nice, decent, pious boy who would be as pure as she was on their wedding night.

She glanced at the pair of lovebirds by her side. Those two! Took them long enough to get there.

Chrissy was still ashamed of her angry outburst and the terrible words she had flung at Janet, although Janet had sworn up and down that she did not hold it against her. It had just been all too much all at once! After she had a chance to cool down (and after Mrs. Roper's sympathetic but firm talking-to), she was genuinely happy for them both.

But seriously, what was wrong with them that they hadn't been able to figure it out for so long? Chrissy might not be an Einstein or an Eisenstein (she could never tell one from the other) but she had a pretty good intuition. She had sensed what was going on between them while they had both been totally clueless.

"That's because they are not smart like me," Chrissy thought smugly as she looked at her friends with love. "They are both so dumb."