Chapter 24: Jamie
In January, I returned to E-Harmony and met Jamie. She was a divorced, 43-year-old teacher and lived thirty-five minutes south. We communicated well and had an enormous amount of fun. She helped me get over Beth. She had two children, her daughter was a senior in high school and her son was a freshman. I drove to her home every week.
Now and then we danced at The Alumni. We were drinking at home one Saturday night and decided to go to the bar. I backed out of the garage at 10:00 went right across the street and into my neighbor’s front yard. He’d always methodically worked his landscaping. The ground was soaked after two days of rain and the car was stuck in the mud. After several spinning attempts, I went over home and got a folding glider and placed it under the back wheels. That didn’t work, so I placed the front seat mats underneath. I spun out of the yard. One mat I never did find, it’s probably on the man’s roof. We were a little muddy but went to the Alumni anyway, we left the bar now fairly intoxicated. I’m driving, Jamie said something and I drove right into a steel cable that was blocking a parking lot that was being paved. It damaged the hood and roof. The next morning we’re peaking out the bay window, my neighbor has his hands on his hips looking at the disaster. I’d washed the mud off my car, he never found out it was me.
Over the 4th of July weekend, we flew to North Carolina. Jamie's girlfriend was dating a pilot who always went to N.C over the 4th to party with old friends. A half-hour to our destination, Jamie had to pee, all containers were full. The three of us had finished a case of beer. Dan, the pilot, couldn't drink, he called flight control to get permission to slow the aircraft due to weather conditions. We poured the pee out the window. I imagine a family cooking out. We arrived at a beautiful condominium on the ocean. We met James, one of the most interesting people I'd ever encountered. He owned an internet company with over eighty employees. I asked what he marketed, he explained they had started out with Disney, but had zero success. They ended up with porn and his company became very profitable. He was raised in a strict Christian environment. He and his sister are very close, during her wedding everyone was whispering, "There's the porno king. " He told us he watches a little now and then, but this is his livelihood. He hates how some Christians judge. Total agreement. The three of us talked all night, Jamie’s feeling no pain and painting his Afghan dog's toenails, he explained one of the most amazing stories I’d ever heard. He and a close friend paid five thousand dollars each to fly to Peru and live one week with a Shaman in the jungle. The purpose was to take Ayahuasca, the most powerful hallucinogen on the planet. They were instructed to fast for three days and then were given the drug. Exactly what the Shaman said would happen, happened. After a half hour, they vomited. He started extremely hallucinating and was shown his ego and all its insane intelligence. James said this vision was so horrible, he gave up trying to reason with it and just observed. The Course teaches us not to converse with it, which makes it real to us, and it’s not. Next came the Glory. He saw how everything is interconnected. James explained that there is so much a soul can learn by observing nature and all her teaching lessons. His vision went much, much deeper. All the multi-universes, all the galaxies, all the stars, millions of worlds, all the molecules, all atoms, all life everywhere was created and re-created and maintained by an all-encompassing powerful intelligent Eternal Loving Force. And there is nowhere this Force is not. James was quiet for a minute and said that death is an illusion, we live forever. All he explained could have come right out of The Course, and he had never heard of the book. The experience had such a profound effect on his friend that he stayed in Peru for several months. He's a professional painter, and his paintings were later shown at the United Nations. James said the Shamen have been told to share their wisdom with the world, he didn’t say by Whom. Ayahuasca must be like taking pure PCP and powerful LSD at once. I'm sure one could try this, but believe me from experience, this would not work. I asked Jamie to marry me that night. We were on the ocean watching fireworks being set off. Very, very romantic. She accepted.
The first time I met her parents was at a condominium they’d rented for her Dad’s birthday. I turned into the compound and hit a brick wall that had no business being there. Her son Tyler was waving out the window, his head slammed upwards. Thankfully, he wasn’t seriously injured, just a little stunned. I pulled up, her new car’s fender was dented, and the tire was flat. They’d met Bob.
The next several months, we continued to see one another every week. Jamie's father had owned a very successful painting company in Pittsburgh, she was accustomed to wealth. I had been driving a high performance late model Dodge when we met. Due to finances, I had to get rid of the vehicle and bought an old Ford Escort. I remember the look on her face when I pulled up. She knew I had filed bankruptcy. I suppose in her eyes, I’d prove not to be a good provider. I called on a Saturday, saying I'd be there soon. She then said, totally out of context, that she had plans with her son. The next week, she broke off the engagement. She had just completed a weekend D.U.I. class and had met someone, a dentist. She found out he was only interested in a one-night stand. However, she would not come back to me.
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