Joe

In the early 90s I went to high school at a Roman Catholic prep school. One guy I really liked at this school was named Joe and was in one of my classes; I think it must have been religion. Class would always begin with a prayer and our teacher asked if we had anyone we would like to include. Most of the time no one spoke up, but one day, Joe said that he wanted to pray for actress Katey Sagal because she had a miscarriage. I thought that was especially sweet and since I have a soft spot in my heart for good guys, this endeared him to me even more. I always think of him when I see Katey, who, let's face it, is just plain fabulous and gorgeous in every way, but I remember that at the time, in that room, I thought, "Well, she can always have another kid." I was sixteen and I hadn't quite realised that people can fall totally in love with someone that hasn't yet been born. That there are so many wishes and dreams and expectations rolled into a pregnancy and when it fails, it is absolutely crushing. I still think of Joe because he seemed to understand, long before I did, that what Katey experienced was terrible and sad and heartbreaking and that she needed to have a room full of kids bow their heads and send warm, kind, hopeful thoughts her way. I took a look back at my old yearbook and in my typical sixteen year old girl way, I had a pink heart next to Joe's name and the date October 3, 1991 below his photo.