Dear Abby

852

My life is unreal.

LJ Me-And-Thee-100 challenge 291: Dear Abby

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Dear Abby,

I feel like I don’t have control of my life. I fall for a girl and something always

happens, she dies or chooses her career or family over me and then my partner

comforts me. Or it happens to him and I do the comforting. Or I get shot, poisoned,

beaten up, in a wreck or catch some weird disease (I mean even more than is usual

on a job like mine) and my partner rescues me and takes care of me until I’m better

(again, sometimes it happens to him and I’m the caregiver). Then it starts all over

again. And I’m starting to have feelings for my partner! I mean really hot, wonderful

feelings, but I’ve never felt like this for a guy. It kind of scares me and makes me

happy at the same time.

What should I do?

Sincerely,

Z3

 

Dear “Z3,”

I don’t know which fraternity you’re pledging at Bay City University (the post mark is

a dead give away), but I hope seeing this letter in print gets you accepted.

P.S. It doesn’t matter what major you are taking, you should definitely switch to

Theater Arts and become a writer for television!

 

One Year Later:

My life is still unreal, but it’s mine.

 

To my readers,

I’m often asked “Does anyone ever write to let you know what happened after you

answered their letters?” Yes, sometimes I do receive follow up letters. Today’s

column is about a letter published a year ago and the update that I recently received.

 

– Letter published May 2, 1979 –

Dear Abby,

I feel like I don’t have control of my life. I fall for a girl and something always

happens, she dies or chooses her career or family over me and then my partner

comforts me. Or it happens to him and I do the comforting. Or I get shot, poisoned,

beaten up, in a wreck or catch some weird disease (I mean even more than is usual

on a job like mine) and my partner rescues me and takes care of me until I’m better

(again, sometimes it happens to him and I’m the caregiver). Then it starts all over

again. And I’m starting to have feelings for my partner! I mean really hot, wonderful

feelings, but I’ve never felt like this for a guy. It kind of scares me and makes me

happy at the same time.

What should I do?

Sincerely,

Z3

 

Dear “Z3,”

I don’t know which fraternity you’re pledging at Bay City University (the post mark is

a dead give away), but I hope seeing this letter in print gets you accepted.

P.S. It doesn’t matter what major you are taking, you should definitely switch to

Theater Arts and become a writer for television!

 

– And the follow up letter –

Dear Abby,

I’m “Z3,” the writer of a letter you answered last May.

I know you didn’t expect to hear from me again, especially since you thought it was a

fraternity pledge’s prank. It wasn’t, I wrote that when I was feeling really down (and a

little drunk).

It’s been a hell of a year. Just after the letter was published someone tried to blow

my world apart. The only answer I needed was Life or Death. My only goal was

Justice or Revenge. Everything else was trivial.

We’ve had a year full of pain and joy, setbacks and triumphs, but we’re still here and

still together.

Yes, I told him how I felt. After I dropped my letter in the mailbox, I realized

something. The simple truth. That even if he didn’t feel the same way, he’d still be

my best friend and partner, and that was what mattered most. That was what got us

through bad times before and that was what saved us and that is what will get us

through anything life throws at us.

As for what anyone else thinks of us – well, I guess that’s their problem for a letter

to Abby.

Take it from me and don’t let the shadows weigh you down, the risks are worth the

reward,

Z3

P.S. I did take your advice on a new career. You said I should write TV scripts. So we

gave it a try and the studios can’t get enough. Except they keep flagging actual

events from our life as ‘needs reworking – too implausible’!

 

–- Abby again —

I know some of you will think the second letter is another prank. After having been in

contact with ‘Z3,’ I can assure you that both letters are genuine. Their story is; as the

entertainment industry claims “implausible,” but it is also inspiring, thought provoking and

timeless.

I hope one day they can share it with the world.