[This is the fourth installment of the series featuring correspondence with a former student, Angela. In this one Angela introduces a fellow student, Patsy, with whom she became great pals. I redacted some identifying language. Please note that in this letter, Angela gave me permission to share her letters. I’ll recount more about this permission in a later post.—JohnL]

April 11, 1990

Dear John,

It was great hearing from you and that you and Pat and Cory [sic] are doing good. It’s surprising to find out that you have six cats. I’ve always been into cats since I was little, especially black cats. I remember looking through one of the cat books in [Teddee B’s] class one of the students from the Junior high class named Jerry walked by and asked me If cats were my bag or hobby and I nod yes and they still are today. Right now I have 2 black cats all solid black. one short hair name Velvet and a long hair black cat name Tinkerbell. You’ve seen Velvet the black one in the picture, but the other cat, the gray and white one you’ve seen in the picture Bloomer had to be put to sleep because of illness. I felt bad, but I’ve decided to get a replacement close to Velvet’s age 2 years old so, I’ve gotten a black long hair cat and named her Tinkerbell. They are a source of comfort to me.

Well you have my permission to read my letter to some of your students. You can read it to some of your students okay.

Well I gave Patsy a call last night and spoken with her and let her know that I’ve heard from you and that you would like to have her address and I’ve given her yours. She is doing a lot better right now. She is in Remission right now. I may see her in a few weeks when we go double dating me and Brian, and Patsy and her boyfriend she’s been going with for four years. Here is her address:

[name and address edacted]

Yes I did go to Portalnd Oregon 15 years ago to visit my Sister who’s married and still is. I was going to visit you, but didn’t get around to it. You’ve met her a couple of times when she picked me up at Cal State. She has 2 boys one natural who is 16 and one adopted one Jason and Ryan. Jason who is 16 is Learning Disabled and he is taking Ritalin and there is a possibility he may have to take it for the rest of his life. I would like to see you and Pat one of these days. I have cousins on the East coast. Maybe I can drop by during the time I visit them.

Thats great that you keep in touch with Joan [Joanie]. I wonder if she looks the same. I like to see her sometime. Tell Mrs. [Teddee] hi the next time you talk to her.

Well my job is going okay, but its been somewhat stressful lately because I need to get my sales up more. My boss tells my my work habits are very good such as getting to work on time and keeping on the task, but its hard to get a lot of people to buy from the telephone. I’ve spoke to my job coach and he said that telemarketing may not be for me and I agree because I am beginning to realize that there is a lot of pressure on this type of job.

Right now I am suffering the consequences of my stress due to this job. I have been getting headaches and my stomach has been acting up and I’ve seen the stomach doctor last week and he wants to take x rays because of my difficulty with swallowing and pain in my stomach. He wants to see if my Ulcer has gotten worse. He said this maybe due to stress. I’ll let you know the results.

But I am not letting the job get the best of me because its not worth it. I am trying to handle my stress instead of keeping things inside by talking to my boyfriend more. Brian is encouraging me to share more because I don’t let things out as much as I should. I’m still going to counseling once week and that helps. In the past 3 weeks I’ve been getting a massage from a proffessional massuese and it definetly helps a lot. I am also going back into Ice skating and doing other fun things to keep the stress from getting to me.

The rest of my family are doing okay. My autistic/Retarded sister, Carla now stays in a Board in Care home in Pasadena. She’s been out of the State Hospital 12 years now. My parents were not happy about the care she recieved in the last 8 yers in the group homes, but right now she’s in a nice one. I hope it will be nice for awhile.

Both of my parents are retired. My mother is tutoring adults who do not know how to read to learn to read. She who writes stories. This keeps her busy.

Well John that’s all for now. Give my love to Mrs [Teddee] and Joan[ie].

Keep In Touch!

Love Angela

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