i went to the university of oregon straight out of boarding school in massachusettes. in 1991 i met nate. i was at a halloween party in portland. we were invited by a different boy from school that i would have done anything for. even fall in love with his best friend nate. the party was at this perfect dilapidated house on the top of the hill at mount tabor park. if you know portland at all, this was the perfect location for ole hallow's eve. so nate found me by the end of the night. he covered me with a blanket and we talked for 5 hours. about 12 of us slept over. the best friends and the two new ones- myself and meg. the plan was day-tripping through portland and we were all salivating in anticipation. although i had done novels of lsd in high school, this was one of the most powerful experiences i had ever had. to detail the day would take more focus than i have right now, but the point of this flashback is nate. nate, meg and i fused at the soul and tripped through lifetimes in one 24-hour cycle. the high went far into the evening...into the morning...into the haunted house on the hill. nate and i fell instantly in love and i left school and moved with meg to portland. it was an exponential affair. he was the son of christian missionaries and i was a neopaganbuddhistjew. it was light and dark and spiritual war. it was paranormal activity, exorcism, and quite literally...conversations with god. we lived together in that house for just over a year, when i left him to move to italy to begin a higher road of self discovery. we were not broken up, in fact, he proposed to me before i left. i said yes with the conditions that, if we are meant to be, we'll know in a few years. so it was more of a "sure, why not." after 6 months in florence, i flew to meet him in turkey where we lived in oludeniz for another 6 months. we were not clicking anymore. for many reasons. so i left him and moved to england.

many years passed and i saw him less than once a year. i had heard about his life in alaska but we had no contact. he had visited once when i was in love and dating the boy at the beginning of this story. and we knew our epic adventure together was over. dec 1999 was the last i had heard from or even about him until two days ago. i am moved and inspired by his endeavors. and i would like to share them with you.

www.afghanistanproject.org/

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