She said. I said.

Regarding my last post, about the money I had sent to my friend, S. This is what has happened since then:

E-mail from S to me, 10:04 p.m. Wednesday night

Oh Pete! I'm guessing the anonymous gift I got in the mail today was from you. Thank you so much! You are a godsend! Cool news. I've been hired as a teacher/healer to go help a person in CA for a month. It pays more than I'd make in months at the job here. I feel so blessed! Plan to leave sometime next week.

Love, S-----

E-mail from me to S, 12:02 a.m. Thursday:

Hi, S-----.

I don't know what I should say about your latest note, since I'm not sure what you're talking about. Evidently someone send you something, and you think I did it. Right? Why would you think it was me?

I'm not a godsend, S-----. I'm just what I am, for better or worse.

Congratulations on the very good news from California. Can you tell me a little more about it? What will you be doing, and what part of the state will you be doing it in? Can I assume you will still have e-mail access?

[I write about getting back from my trip to the volleyball quarterfinals. They lost. Then I write about my trip to the basketball regionals on Thursday. And a note on the warm weather--it was 64 on our drive on Tuesday until we got close to Lake Michigan.]

Must stop here. I'm getting tired. But take care and may the Divine protect you on your journeys, now and forever. And never thirst.

Love, Peter

E-mail from S to me, 8:22 a.m. Thursday:

Hi Pete,

The letter the money arrived in was postmarked Kingsford, MI. Since you are the only one I know in MI, I just figured ... The money from my paypal account still hasn't hit the bank and had it not been for what you sent they would have started foreclosure on my house yesterday (I was $200 short). Truly, there are no coincidences.

I have been hired as a life coach and healer to help out a lady in CA for one month. I will make her world a happy place again and she will cover my room and board, plane fare and pay me $***. This will go a long way to improve our current financial situation, so I don't mind making the trip. It will be fun to spend some time in CA again. I will go talk with a travel agent today and should be flying out by this time next week. I will have computer access there so we can continue to communicate.

Thanks again. Thou art god.

Love, S-----

E-mail from me to S, 9:28 a.m. Thursday:

Well ... look, S----:

It's true that I was in Kingsford, but it was this Tuesday. The day before last. The only thing I did there was get an quickie oil change, on the way to my mom's house (to pick up mail) and the nursing home. I did not mail anything from Kingsford. When I mail stuff, I use the post office here in Iron River, which is a lot closer.

And anyway ... if we say we love each other but we don't react when we sense the other person is in trouble and don't try to do whatever we can to help them get through it, maybe it isn't love after all. When I say "love" in closing these e-mails, it's not just a word. Yeah, it's been 15 months now, and it's not like holding you. But there are other ways to show love. When I read about how high your blood pressure had gotten, it told me that somebody had to do something.

I still know nothing about that envelope, though. That's my official story, and I'm sticking to it.

Peter

***

The thing about her blood pressure was from her e-mail the week before. She had written that she had taken her physical for the job she was applying for. It went fine, she said, "except my bp was a little high."

"Next day I got dizzy and was experiencing numbness and tingling in my left arm (bp was now 153/106). Went in and found I had a urinary tract infection that was causing the bp to spike. After a couple days of antibiotics I now feel well and healthy again."

That is a really high blood pressure reading, and, given her normally peaceful, positive demeanor, it set off alarm bells. I mailed the money about two hours later.

About the Kingsford postmark: I did mail it from Iron River. But our mail goes to the distribution center in Kingsford, and that's where it gets postmarked. Should have guessed she would notice that.

But let's be honest here: Her heart knew, anyway. I knew it would. I'm just denying it so she doesn't feel obliged to me somehow. Understand? And I'm sure her heart also knows how much I miss her and want to be with her again.

And about the money she said she was short for the house payment: That's exactly how much I sent her.

The world is strange. I just feel we are put on it to help each other get through the rough patches. I like to think that if our positions were reversed, she would do exactly the same thing. Like the old saying: "A friend in need is a friend indeed."