The Treatment for Blue Pill Overdose
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May 15, 1988, Chicago, Illinois
“Mr. Adams, we’ll need to search the premises,” the detective told me after the ambulance had taken Chrissy away.
“Why is that?” I asked.
“She clearly OD’d on something, most likely cocaine, based on the residue on the packet in the bathroom. I’ll get a warrant if you insist, but then everyone will have to gather in one room and wait while we find a judge, get the warrant issued, and then do the search.”
“I hate to say this, but I’d prefer you get a warrant.”
He sighed, “OK. We’ll do it your way. Everyone needs to gather in the room with all the windows.”
“The sunroom,” I said.
“Did anyone leave before we got here?” he asked.
“You’ll have to ask my sister. She’s the strawberry blonde standing next to the Latino guy. It was her party.”
He nodded and walked over to a uniformed officer who spoke into his radio, and then started herding everyone into the sunroom. The detective talked to my sister and started writing things in his notebook. A few minutes later, she came into the sunroom. I pulled her to the farthest point in the room from the uniformed officer standing at the door.
“Well, this is fun!” I sighed.
“Sorry, big brother. I had NO idea. I feel really bad because Kara, her mom, and Paul all got woken up and have to sit here with the rest of us. You refused to let them search without a warrant?”
“That shouldn’t surprise you. They’ll get a warrant to search for drugs, and they damned well better not find anything.”
“They’ll search everyone here. I don’t know if anyone else has any drugs on them or not,” she whispered.
“If they didn’t flush them as soon as we found Chrissy, they’re idiots,” I said.
The detective came to the door of the sunroom.
“Who called 9-1-1?” he asked.
“I did,” I said.
“And who found her?”
“I did,” my sister said.
“Come out you two,” he said.
I walked over to Kara, hugged her, told her it would be OK, then followed my sister out the door. A female detective took her into the ‘Indian’ room and the male detective took me into my study.
“You own the house, and you called 9-1-1?”
“That’s right,” I said.
“I need to pat you down. Do you have any weapons of any kind on you? Even a pocket knife?”
“No,” I said.
I held up my arms and he quickly frisked me, finding only my wallet which he asked me to take from my pocket, and the key and other necklaces I wore around my neck.
“Were you using any drugs tonight?”
“No,” I said, remembering the advice I’d had from my attorneys over the years to give short, succinct, direct answers.
“Were you aware that drugs were being used?”
“Not until my sister found Chrissy and called me out of the sauna.”
“How does a kid like you own a house like this in Hyde Park?”
“I own it together with my dad, who lives in Ohio. I have renters and I run my own computer business based in Hyde Park. My wife is a doctor that works in the UofC Emergency Room.”
“I see. So tell me what happened tonight.”
That started a twenty-minute question-and-answer period about everything that I’d done that evening, who I’d talked to, what I’d seen, and where I’d been. I had considered insisting on having an attorney present, but in the end, thought that would only cause even more problems for everyone else. I was very careful with my answers, and when we finished, he returned my wallet and told me to wait in the great room for the detective who would be coming with a search warrant, and gave an admonition to not talk to anyone else about what happened.
“Detective, my wife is nine months pregnant, and I’d really like to let her go to bed.”
“Not until we search,” he said.
I sighed, “Can we make a deal? You can search my bedroom, and only my bedroom, for drugs, and only drugs, so that Kara can go back to bed? I’d hate for her to go into labor from the stress, or have complications.”
He considered for a moment.
“You’ll need to give blanket permission, otherwise it’ll be your word against mine about what I could and couldn’t look at.”
“No deal,” I said. “But you’re on notice that she has never done drugs, I’ve never done drugs, and she’s obviously very, very pregnant. Got that, Detective Miller, badge #9135?”
He sighed but didn’t answer, just jerked his thumb towards the great room, where a uniformed officer was standing. I walked in to find my sister sitting there, looking angry.
“You OK?” I asked.
“I got felt up by a chick and asked if I did drugs! Me! As if!”
“I got the same question, Squirt. But we’re not supposed to talk about what happened tonight.”
“Officer! Officer!” I heard Nancy say sternly. “My daughter is nine months pregnant and needs to get to bed. Now! I demand you let us out of here and let her get to bed!”
“Ma’am, sit down,” the uniformed officer said.
“Officer, did you hear me? She’s nine months pregnant! Do you want her to go into labor or have problems?”
“Ma’am, I said sit down or I’ll have to arrest you!”
“Then arrest me! I’m taking my daughter to her bed. I’m doing what I need to do. You decide what YOU need to do! And if YOU can handle the consequences of harming an obviously pregnant woman!”
“Nancy,” Paul cautioned, but Nancy ignored him.
“Kara, come with me! We’re putting you to bed!” Nancy said firmly, staring into the cop’s eyes.
I watched as they walked past the officer who looked at a sergeant who just nodded. Nancy took Kara to the elevator and they disappeared inside. Nancy didn’t come back, so I assumed that she had stayed with Kara. And I figured if the cops wanted to search my bedroom, they were going to need a SWAT team, and even that might not be enough. It took two hours before an officer arrived with a warrant. In that time, the two detectives had questioned everyone, and as far as I could tell, didn’t discover anything.
Searching the house took over an hour, and they found nothing. My room was barely touched, with Nancy basically standing guard over Kara. By that point, it seemed the police had more or less decided that they weren’t going to find anything. Finally, around 4:30am, the police were finished and let everyone leave. I decided that I was going to walk over to the ER and meet Jessica, and also check on Chrissy.
“Steve?” Melody asked.
“Yeah?”
“Where are you going?”
“To the hospital. I’m going to check on Chrissy and meet my wife. She’s an ER doc.”
“Wait, I thought Kara was your wife and the doctor!”
I chuckled, “Walk with me and I’ll explain.”
I told Nancy where I was going, and she and Paul went to bed, while my sister got everyone else out of the house. Melody and I walked out the front door and down the steps onto the sidewalk.
“I’m married to both girls,” I said. “Not legally, mind you. I’m only legally married to Jessica, but she, Kara, and I consider ourselves married to each other. We had a public ceremony for the three of us. Only two other people and the minister saw the private legal ceremony.”
“Is the doctor Jesse’s mom?”
I chuckled, “No. It’s WAY more complicated than that. I guess my sister didn’t give you all the details.”
“No, she just said you had more freedom than a usual married guy.”
“And why were you flirting with a married guy?”
“For fun! I’m in college. It’s time to have fun before I have to be an adult!”
I chuckled, “I hear you on that one! But why mess with a married guy when there are plenty of single college guys?”
“Wait, you’re not just talking about flirting or playing a bit?”
“Forget it for now, we’re almost to the ER!”
“I think sitting naked next to you and letting you get an eyeful entitles me to an answer!”
“With the same restrictions I mentioned for ‘Truth or Dare’, I can pretty much do what I want, including screw you until your eyes roll back in your head and you pass out!” I teased.
We’d come to the door of the ER, so despite the shocked look on her face, she didn’t have a chance to answer before we walked in.
“Tiger? You’re early!” Jessica said. “And where is Kara? And who’s this?”
“Kara’s asleep. This is my sister’s friend, Melody. I came early to check on Chrissy Teague,” I said.
“How do you know about her?” she asked, surprised.
“You missed the paramedics, the police, the search of the house, me getting frisked, you know, all the excitement.”
“Oh no! What happened? Is everything OK?”
“I suppose so. Nobody was arrested, but my sister and I are going to have a long talk. How is Chrissy?”
“After I finish my shift. What’s with your new friend?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Melody is one of my sister’s friends, as I said. She’s also a friend of Chrissy’s. And other than dancing and a sauna, nothing happened.”
We sat in the waiting room for about twenty minutes and Melody told me about school and home. She was from Casper, Wyoming, and was majoring in archeology with a minor in anthropology. She’d met my sister in a statistics class during her Freshman year, which was my sister’s Sophomore year. She was planning on doing field work when she graduated, then getting her Master’s, and eventually a PhD.
“I’m off,” Jessica said, walking over to where we were sitting.
I stood up, gave her a kiss, and the three of us walked out of the ER.
“You sister’s friend is in really bad shape. She had serious arrhythmia, which we controlled, but her nasal passages are shot. She’s obviously been snorting for years. If her heart holds out, and she’s willing to get into a program, we can repair the damage to her nose. Her heart, well, I’m not a cardiologist, so I can’t say. She doesn’t appear to have brain damage, well, beyond whatever it was that caused her to use coke in the first place.”
“How did she OD?” I asked.
“If you take cocaine regularly, over a long period of time, you build up tolerance to the effects. That means you have to take more to get the same high. Was she snorting all night?”
“I have no clue,” I said. “We’ll have to ask my sister.”
“She may not know, Tiger.”
“I didn’t know,” Melody said. “And we hang out a lot!”
“Did you notice her sniffing a lot? Using lots of tissues?” Jessica asked.
“I thought she just had bad allergies,” Melody said, sounding almost frantic. “She’s from San Diego and I just thought it was allergies!”
“Melody, I’m not accusing you of anything,” Jessica said gently. “I was just asking about the signs. Did she have bouts where she seemed hyper and other times when she seemed down?”
“Yes,” Melody sighed. “I missed it!”
“No, you didn’t know. But now you do. And remember, that the things I mentioned could have all had other explanations - allergies, stress, and so on. Did you guys get any sleep?”
“No,” I said. “The party was still going on and a few of us were in the sauna just after midnight when my sister came to get me. Kara had gone to bed, and so had her parents. Needless to say, when I called the paramedics, the police came as well, and before I knew it, we had two detectives and three uniformed officers there.”
“Did they cite anyone for underage drinking?” Jessica asked.
“No. Nobody was drunk. Penny had left around 11:30, so really there were only three or four under 21s, and two of them were in the sauna with me.”
“You called 9-1-1?”
“My sister freaked out when she found Chrissy in the bathroom unconscious with blood coming from her nose. Instead of calling 9-1-1, she came to get me. I grabbed my towel and ran upstairs. When I saw Chrissy, I checked to make sure she was breathing, which she was, and then I called 9-1-1. The fire department was at the house in about six minutes, though the first police officer was at the house about three minutes after my call. He was on patrol on Hyde Park Boulevard, so it took him less than a minute to get to the house once he got the call.”
“And the rest of the cops?”
“Once the paramedics told the officer that it looked like an OD, and he found a small packet with traces of white powder, he called for backup and I insisted on a warrant before I’d let them search the house. They questioned everyone and patted them down, but nobody had any drugs or anything on them, so in the end, after they did an almost cursory search, they all left. That was right before I decided to walk over to the ER. Melody offered to walk with me.
“Nancy really gave the police ‘what for’ about Kara, and I think that, combined with nobody else having any drugs on them, got them to back down. It’s not like we have rowdy parties or anything, so they’ve had no complaints about us. The only real run-ins were the FBI, and when Andrew called to report Bethany missing.”
“Do you have your training session with Jolene this morning?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll make you breakfast, and then take a nap for a few hours. After I come back from the dojo, we have graduation, and then dinner. We’ll just go to bed early.”
“There’s no race today?”
“No. The next race is in a couple of weeks at Charlotte.”
We reached the house and we invited Melody to eat with us. I fixed a quick breakfast of eggs and toast, and when we’d eaten, Melody headed back to the dorms. Jessica and I didn’t want to disturb Kara, so we wrote a note on the board that we’d be in one of the guest rooms. I was getting up in about two hours to meet Jolene, so Jessica and I each went into a separate guest room. I set the alarm, and quickly fell asleep.
I arrived home from my training session with Jolene and almost immediately we left for IIT.
“Are you still up for going out to dinner after graduation?” Nancy asked
“Sure,” I said. “I got a nap, Jessica got her nap, and I guess Kara got enough sleep given she just got up.”
“Tell me things aren’t like that here all the time,” Paul said.
“They aren’t. I haven’t had a chance to talk to my little sister yet, but I have a firm ‘no drugs’ rule in the house. I’m OK with caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine if you need to alter your mind or body, but nothing illegal. The only other run-ins I’ve had with the police were when I left Ohio after Kara and I broke up and my dad asked them to do a well-being check, and then when Bethany and Andrew broke up and he filed a ‘missing persons’ report. And the odd visit from the FBI because I have Russian friends. Our parties are really tame. If they weren’t, the neighbors to the south would be calling the cops every time. They’re real sticks-in-the-mud.”
The graduation ceremony ended up being indoors because it was raining lightly, and, true to form, was about as boring as I had expected it to be. Kara was escorted by a marshal who helped her up the steps onto the stage, and by another one after she received her diploma, who helped her down the steps and back to her seat. She was positively glowing, despite being so close to delivering our baby. I just hoped that Birgit or Joshua would wait at least until the ceremony was over!
For dinner we went to Morton’s The Steakhouse, and after we ate, we headed back to the house. Paul and Nancy were staying the night, because Joyce had generously given them Monday off work. She’d also told Nancy to take as much time as she needed when Kara had the baby, and I’d thanked her profusely for that. Unlike Jennifer, Josie, and Elyse, Kara wanted her mom with her after the baby was born.
We had decided to turn in early, but before we did, I wanted to talk to Stephanie. The girls went up to our room and Nancy and Paul went to the ‘nanny’ room, and I went to find Stephanie. I needed to give her a bit of grief about the drugs, but more about not calling 9-1-1 immediately.
“I need to talk to you, Squirt,” I said, finding her and Jorge cuddling together in the great room watching TV with Elyse. “Now.”
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September 3, 1989, Chicago, Illinois “Good morning, Sensei,” I said, bowing to Sensei Jim. “Good morning!” he said waving me to a chair in his office. “How was your trip?” I asked. “Enlightening. I spent most of my time acting as a manservant to Sensei Robert and Sensei Hiro.” “He who will lead, must first serve,” I said. “Someday, I’m going to send you to Sensei Hiro, should he live long enough. You understand.” “Does that mean you are now 6th Dan?” I...
October 29, 2000, Chicago, Illinois Birgit followed me as far as the stairs, then scooted upstairs when I went to the front door and opened it. “Hi!” Sophie said. “Hi!” I replied and held the door open so she could come into the house. I closed the door behind her then led her to my study where I waited until she went in, and then walked in, closing the door behind me. I nodded to one of the wingback chairs, she sat down in one, and I sat down in the other. “Is something wrong?” she...
August, 1983, Chicago, Illinois I walked in the near 90°F heat to Carla’s place. I was grateful that the humidity of the morning had dropped significantly; otherwise the heat would have been unbearable. By the time I walked up the steps to the apartment over the photography studio and knocked on her door, I had broken into a light sweat. Carla answered almost immediately and invited me inside her studio apartment. The air was moderately cool, and the window air conditioner was running full...
July 1982, Milford, Ohio On Tuesday morning, I kissed Kara goodbye and headed to my parents’ house for my usual morning routine with my little sister. She was happy that I could spend the morning with her and asked to take a walk, so we weren’t in the house with my mom. “Let me guess — this walk will end in the clearing,” I said with a smile. “Yes,” she said, taking my hand as we walked down Overlook towards Klondyke. As usual, we turned around and walked back, taking the path to the...
March 13, 1994, Chicago, Illinois “Hi, Steve!” Ailea said when she opened the door. “Hi,” I replied, accepting the offered hug. There was no touching of lips, just of cheeks, and I wondered if I’d misread her intentions at her birthday lunch, or if, perhaps, she detected my reluctance to return the offered affection. “Lunch is ready, so go ahead and sit. I’ll bring it in from the kitchen.” I went to the low table, sat down, and a minute later, Ailea brought miso soup and sushi, our usual...
April 3, 1997, Dallas, Texas “Remember what I said about drinking too much,” I said, as I poured bourbon into three cups. We’d stopped at a liquor store, bought a bottle of Blanton’s, and then returned to the small suite I’d reserved at the Westin. Deborah’s room was down the hall, and Krissy’s was two floors below. Krissy’s comment had caught me a bit off guard, but I hadn’t reacted visibly. I didn’t know her quite well enough to know if she’d been teasing with Deborah, so I was being...
March 28, 1991, Chicago, Illinois “This day belongs to you, Kara!” I said when the three of us woke on Thursday morning. “Happy birthday!” Jessica said. “Thanks,” Kara replied happily. “I think I’d like an amazing birthday fuck from our husband, and then a nice loving shower with my wife!” Kara said. “Do we have enough time?” I asked. Jessica giggled, “I set the alarm for thirty minutes earlier!” “Then let’s not waste any of it!” I said pulling Kara to me. Kara’s squeals as I plunged...
September 4, 2000, Chicago, Illinois On Monday morning I went to my study to make a surreptitious call to ensure that the surprise I’d planned for Kara was still going to happen, and after confirming that it was, Jesse, Matthew, Michael, and I began preparing for the Labor Day party by getting beer and soda into coolers, getting the grill ready, setting up tables and chairs in the backyard, and ensuring the liquor cabinets were stocked while my wives and daughters worked on food prep in the...
September 1, 1987, Chicago, Illinois “I heard that you have some kind of plan to help Ed,” I said to Connie. “There’s no plan,” she replied. “A witness who saw the shopkeeper alive after Ed left came forward.” That sounded convenient, and I wondered if the witness was real or someone that Anthony had put forward to solve the problem. Certainly, the videotape was real, because I couldn’t imagine how Anthony could have faked that, but the witness? Who knew? “So is he being released? Or is...
August 17, 1997, Chicago, Illinois We finished lunch and Marissa and the younger kids went to play, but Natalie sat with the adults to talk, with coffee, tea, or soft drinks. The Sarcus were very comfortable, but the Heaths were still struggling. But, vitally, they hadn’t left and hadn’t insisted Natalie leave the group. “Can you explain how you developed this attitude and approach?” Chris asked. I nodded, “It started when I was just a bit younger than Natalie. My mom was a total control...
July 1979 — Falkenberg, Sweden On Friday, when I got back from my run, Pam was in her bra and panties again. I whistled at her, she giggled, then finished dressing. I showered, and we went to breakfast and finished up our last day. Once class was done, we were pretty much free. On Saturday, we’d have several optional activities and then on Sunday we’d head back to our host families. After dinner on Friday, I took Pam’s hand and we walked towards the river. It was quiet and peaceful, and...
July 1980, Over the North Atlantic We reached cruising altitude, and I settled back to read my book. Pam raised the armrest between us, snuggled close to me and read as well. The cabin crew offered drinks, and I had my first Coke in a year! Meal service began about an hour and a half into the flight. After the cabin crew picked up the trays and offered drinks again, they passed once more, offering headsets for the movie. Trevor and Maria took them, but Pam and I didn’t, instead we turned on...
July 8, 1997, Chicago, Illinois “Is it really that surprising?” Leah asked. “I suppose not,” I replied. “I just didn’t read too much into the kiss on the cheek.” “I didn’t think it was a good idea to kiss you on the lips with all those people around, because I had no idea who they were or what they would think. You were VERY careful with our dance, so I kind of followed your lead.” Which showed very mature thinking on her part. Both of these girls were exactly the kind of students I...
November 8, 1993, Chicago, Illinois A dark fog swirled before my eyes as I tried to take stock. My head hurt, badly. I felt something on my face and realized, dimly, it was an oxygen mask. My right hand was uncomfortable and I recognized the feeling of an IV and pulse-oximeter. My left arm ached fiercely. On my chest I felt the pads and wires of an EKG. I didn’t feel anything else wrong as I continued taking inventory. I tried to open my eyes, but the fog didn’t clear. I tried to speak, but...
August, 1983, Chicago, Illinois In the morning Anala and I ran as we had the previous time, then showered together, carefully washing each other’s bodies in an intimate but non-sexual way. After our shower we went to the kitchen and I made breakfast and we sat down to eat. “Steve, may I make a suggestion?” she asked. “Sure.” “Broaden your circle of friends. Other than me, all of you are white, nominally Christian, 20-year-old Americans. And you don’t invite me to your Sunday...
June 23, 2000, Chicago, Illinois “Steve,” Kimmy said over the intercom, “I have a Suzanne Aavik for you.” “Thanks,” I replied. “Put her through, please.” A few seconds later, Suzanne was on the line. “Hi!” she exclaimed when I greeted her. “I’m in Chicago for three weeks. Can I still run away and join the circus?” I chuckled, “You might want to find out what the circus is actually like before you join! If you’re free, you’re welcome to come to the house tomorrow or Sunday and meet the...
March 1979 Monday was back to the normal routine of school. Debbie Courtney, who lived across the street and had turned fourteen the last week in February, started flirting more with me on the bus each day. Debbie Vaughn, who lived just down the street, would turn fourteen on March 16th and invited me to her birthday party. And Donna Woody, who lived just down the street in the other direction, would turn fourteen on March 20th. She had made it clear what she wanted for her birthday, and in...
June 2, 1990, Chicago, Illinois “My office, please,” Sensei Jim said after class on Saturday. I followed him to his office and waited for him to bid me to sit. He did, and I sat in the usual chair across from him. “She has a real problem, you know that, right?” he asked. “I do. That’s why I insisted she start seeing a counselor.” “I run a huge risk having her here with that kind of temper and her violent acts.” I nodded, “I understand. May I ask what you intend to do?” “I really don’t...
February 21, 1991, Chicago, Illinois “Hi, Sweetheart!” I said, greeting Bethany at the door. “Uncle Steve!” Nicholas exclaimed. I took him from his mom and he hugged me tightly. “Is Jesse with his moms?” Bethany asked. “Yes. They won’t bring him back over tonight so you and Nicholas can surprise him in the morning.” “Perfect!” “How was the drive up?” “The same as usual. Just a bit of traffic in Northern Indiana. Otherwise, smooth sailing. It was driving the other direction that was a...
November 4, 2000, Chicago, Illinois “Good morning, Sensei,” Miyu said when Kara, the girls, and I walked into the dojo on Saturday morning. “Good morning, Miyu.” “Do you have a moment, please?” I nodded and we went to the small practice room for privacy, as Sensei Jim had a family in his office. “What can I do for you?” “I need you to meet a young man,” she said. “I think you might be taking this ‘not do anything without permission’ a bit too far!” Miyu shook her head, “No, I’m not....
May 1979 The limo dropped me at home about 9:00pm. I took my stuff to my room, stripped, and hung up the tux. The rest of the things went into the hamper. I took a shower, put on shorts and a t-shirt, and walked down the hall into my dad’s office. I saw no reason to put this off any longer. “Stephen, you need to explain yourself!” my mom demanded. “I was in Mrs. McGrath’s, well, Mrs. Sanders’ now, wedding, as I said.” “You walked her down the aisle! You’re sixteen and not even related to...
November 3, 1990, Chicago, Illinois “I still don’t understand why you told everyone to leave Katy alone last night,” Elyse said on Saturday morning. “Because we weren’t going to talk her out of it. I could tell by the way she told us. I hoped letting her sleep on it would allow her to hear what we had to say. Obviously I was wrong.” “I was surprised that she wouldn’t talk to Jennifer at all,” Kara said. “I thought Jennifer would be the one to get her to listen to reason this morning.” I...
February, 1983, Chicago, Illinois Our first joining since the previous summer was slow and sweet, trying to express our deep love for each other through the motions of our bodies. When we finished, Karin held me tight and refused to let me move off of her. “Sleep there, please,” she whispered. I kissed her once more then adjusted my pillow so that I could rest my head next to hers. It wasn’t the most comfortable position, but it was what Karin wanted. The feel of her firm body under mine,...
July 3, 1996, Chicago, Illinois I blinked several times and took a breath before responding. It didn’t help. The best I could do was contain my visceral reaction at her completely out-of-line request and her wrong-headed assumptions when she had NO idea what had happened in my life the previous eight months. “What makes you think you can make that request after refusing to talk to me for nearly eight months? And equally importantly, without explaining Alexi? And without giving me the first...
August 12, 1994, Chicago, Illinois “Fuck ‘em all,” I sighed. “Especially Donald Fehr. Running to Federal Court, the NLRB, and Congress? I’m really tired of the government putting its thumb so heavily on the scale.” “Well, we’re not going to resolve that problem today,” Elyse said. “Jackie and Jeremiah want to come over.” I chuckled, “Why am I not surprised? I bet you anything he had a rough sketch done ten minutes after they hung up the phone.” “They want to discuss options. Kimmy felt...
July 1983, Milford, Ohio My drive to Ohio was filled with wild swings of emotion. After quickly driving Anala home I had set out for Milford, driving as fast as I thought I could get away with, slowing only when warned to do so by my radar detector. I’d told Nancy that I’d come straight to her house and asked her to call my dad and let him know so that Stephanie wasn’t worried. I pulled into the Blanchards’ driveway at 3:30pm, having managed to avoid any run-ins with the Indiana State Police...
June 1980, On the Train, and in Abisko, Sweden As the train sped across the Swedish countryside towards Stockholm, I reflected on the fact that there were less than three weeks to go until I had to be in Copenhagen to board a flight home. I was torn between wanting to go home and wanting to stay, but in the end, I didn’t have a choice. I really liked my life here, the freedom I was given, the friends I had and, the respect I had from adults. I hadn’t run into a single adult who had treated...
May 18, 1997, Chicago, Illinois “As I said last time, today we’re going to talk about decision making and how to make good decisions. I think we’ll start with what I think has to be the easiest decision with the least controversy - is it ever OK to drive drunk?” “No!” came a chorus from several of the students. “And yet, people do that every day,” I replied. “And they die or kill people because of that bad decision. You have to ask yourself why people would drive drunk; and often it’s...