A lot of you have written me to ask how the girl, from whom I rescued Oliver and helped her get out from under her squalor, is doing. As far as I can tell, she's managed to keep her apartment clean. She's had several people over and even a group of friends. This is a good thing, as it means it's presentable enough to have company. And, she showed it to me a few weeks ago and it certainly was clean. She'd even bought herself a vacuum cleaner, though a small one, but hey...better than nothing. So, she's managed to stay out from underneath it, which is fantastic. However, she's been bringing in more and more stuff, such as antiques and pillows and little things from whatever thrift store that she visited that day. From what I can tell that I saw of it, she hadn't started hoarding, but actually putting the pieces up on the wall or decorating her apartment with them.

On a mental level, I still think she's in trouble. She's come over to my house a few times and has terrible body odor and doesn't wear underwear of any kind. Yes, it's obvious. While I've been known to go commando myself from time to time, there are certain clothes that you must wear underwear with. And, certainly a bra. Ladies, you have to prop the girls up. It takes years off your appearance and just looks sexier.

Also, she repeats herself a lot and sort of rambles, asking me who I think she should date or apartments that she's looked at. She also speaks as if every guy in the world is after her. This is the part that makes me sad. Especially because many people suspect she may be earning money, "the old fashioned way." I've tried to pin her down on what she does for a living but she's always very vague, saying she's starting a dress company or brokers antiques online. A couple slips of the tongue from her about her income has made me wonder if the former is true. Only earning her money in cash, and another thing that was very suspicious. If that's true, then how sad.

Another fascinating thing to me is that she has a blog, and no...you aren't going to get me to tell you the address, where she sounds completely normal. If you were to read it, you'd think that this person is living a somewhat charmed life in Los Angeles. She even posts many times about being an animal lover, which kills me. But, that's the power of denial. I think she is an animal lover, but in her mind has glossed over the cruelty that Oliver had to endure because of her neglect. But, like I said, at least she reached out to me when he got sick. I do give her credit for that instead of hiding it like she did her messy apartment. She's started to park her car in the car port, and well...it looks just like her apartment did. For some reason, her parents, whom I think are probably solidly middle class, bought her a brand new Mercedes station wagon five years ago. Probably a college graduation present. Well, the poor thing looks like it's been through the demolition derby. A huge, rusted crashed in side on the passenger side. Scratches galore, broken bumper, taped on passenger side mirror, cracked lights. All left to rust or fall off. Okay, if you have my car, that's one thing. But, a nice car like that should be fixed. I don't want to think of how the engine is being taken care of. Inside, from end to end, the car is filled with junk and trash. Yet, if you read her blog, she writes about that car as if it's her pristine baby, and that she's looking to buy a second car. An antique Mercedes. It was all I could do not to comment, "Fix the car you have first, dammit." It has several thousand dollars of damage on it. I asked her about the damage, and she had some strange story for it. Someone had hit it while it was parked, then left. However, looking at the damage, it looks like she side swiped something. I'm not buying the hit and run story. I asked her why she didn't fix it, and she said insurance didn't cover it. Well, then stop fantasizing about getting a second car. Focus on fixing what your negligence has ruined, first. Trust me on that one.

I know there's a chance she reads my blog. But, that's okay. I've been pretty blunt with her in person and haven't compromised her identity. And, a little dose of reality can't hurt when you are spending so much energy to create an alter persona. Man, just deal with what you have in front of you. You'll see how much faster that seemingly far off "person you want to be" comes and shakes hands with you if you do. And, just because she does, don't think that she doesn't carry baggage as well. As anyone knows from this blog, I've come a good long way, but there are still pot holes. I'm in the process of trudging through one now, but I'm aware of it and not trying to hide it. I'm still doing pretty ok. But, the one thing I've done is leveled with myself about who I am, and where I am emotionally even if it's not a perfect little picture. But, even so, I still haven't stopped doing the things that I love, and hate sometimes...like writing. If I create any personas, they are characters in my novel.

I do wish the best for her, and it's hard to watch her teeter so delicately on the edge. I don't know if she thinks that I and the other neighbors see it, which makes it harder. Sometimes, it's just as hard for me to pretend I don't see her cracks all the time, as it is for her to hide them.