[Groop]Lurking...

[Larry Steller]

Hello, Groop!

I've been lurking for a bit, probably will continue to
do so for a while.

Anyway, I met our Barcelona Grooper Daniel Cortez
today; by now I'm no longer surprised when a member of
the Groop turns out to be such a nice guy - I now
expect it! Groo Fans are the best!!!

We decided to throw caution to the wind and visit the
Empire State Building, and I was happy to see tight
security. Everyone had to pass through a metal
detector to get in. Such is life in these United
States from now on, I guess. Even though I was born
and bred in New York and work only a block away, I
never get sick of the view from the Empire State
Building, it's truly breathtaking!

If any of you New York Groopers out there are free for
lunch in Midtown either Tuesday or Wednesday with
Daniel & I, drop me a line!

--------------------------------------------

Those of you who wish to stick with the warm fuzzy
feelings and comedy are more than excused from reading
further, as I get a little depressing from here on.
Feel free to skip the rest if you come to the Groop as
an escape and just want a laugh; trust me, I'll more
than understand!!!

Daniel kindly asked me about my cousin Susan Grigonis
Ruggiero, he hoped since I didn't say anything about
it that she was all right, and I realized with shock
that I never did get back to all my friends in the
Groop and confirm the bad news that we never did find
her. She worked on the 96th floor of Tower One of the
World Trade Center and never really had a chance. 

Susan was the wife of my cousin Frank, but I don't
believe in the word "Cousin-In-Law." In our early
years Frank & I grew up in the same house and were
very close, and I've known and loved Susan like a
sister for ten years now. She was the kindest,
gentlest, most fun-loving person I ever met, a perfect
match for my boisterous cousin! Their birthdays are
only a day apart, October 22 & 23, she would have
turned 31 next week.

My family had a memorial service for her on Saturday,
Sept. 29, and it provided a comforting level of
closure, even if she hasn't yet been recovered. I told
Frank and the rest of the family of the warm wishes I
received from The Groop, hailing from all over the
world, and how proud I was of the response! Thank you
all again!

Emotionally, I'm doing pretty well now. I was able to
talk to Daniel today about Susan without shedding a
tear, so I guess that says a lot. That said, I thought
I'd share with you an email I sent two weeks ago to my
friend Tracy, whom some of you know as Unirabbit. 

I was very worried about my state of mind at the time,
as I am prone to depression. The reason I decided to
share this after all this time is I think you guys
will appreciate the feeble joke attempt I made at the
end of it.

>I've never felt such an overwhelming, 
>smothering sadness before; it's been
>really difficult to get over. Today is 
>really the first day I didn't mope
>continually, and I managed to make 
>a couple of jokes and laugh a bit. 
>So I think I'm over the worst of it.

>I realized I was in a very bad state 
>of mind when I started getting
>irritated by the people around me who 
>were vocally happy and boisterous -
>imagine ME being irritated by people 
>daring to be happy! I think what helped
>snap me out of it was my sister Linda 
>relating the following story to me.
>
>She was on the phone with my cousin Frank, 
>and he was telling her that he'd
>had to mentally prepare himself for the 
>fact that his wife Susan just
>wasn't coming back, and now has to 
>start actively dealing with that reality.
>I had just had a similar conversation 
>with him the night before, and she
>said they talked, they cried, they 
>talked some more, they cried some more;
>at some point they were both all talked out, 
>and there was a bit of an
>awkward silence where there was 
>nothing left to say...
>
>...so Linda said. "Well, I do have 
>SOME good news, I'm pregnant!"
>
>She said Frank yelled "THANK GOD, FINALLY 
>SOME GOOD NEWS!!!"
>And without missing a beat, he said to 
>her "So, have you figured out
>who the father is yet?"
>
>Man did I laugh my head off!!! 
>That's my cousin through and through!
>Even in times like these, he's able to 
>make a joke like that!
>
>I only thought about it on my long 
>boring subway ride home tonight,
>and realized that not only was I feeling 
>better, I think I can trace it
>back to that icebreaker. Maybe I finally 
>understand the meaning of
>the word "catharsis". Now if only I can 
>figure out what the word "mulch" means...

Take care Groop, thanks again for your support! We now
return you to our regularly scheduled lunacy, now in
progress...


=====
-Larry Steller
New York, New York

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