Hey, you, get off of my cloud

I know it's hard to believe, but I was a very naive and self-righteous person in my college days. I suppose it was partially the result of growing up in a small town where, to borrow a phrase from Garrison Keillor, all the children were above average. Add to that the fact that I attended only Catholic schools, where I was instilled with the belief that most of the world's ills were caused by dirty thoughts. This knowledge did little to stop me from having them, however. {To hell with the starving kids in China, would you look at those knockers!} But I digress.
Then I met Ms. Reality Check.
Reality worked at the campus bookstore where I took a part-time job. She was only a few years older than I was, but she had much more experience of the world. Despite the fact that she was a really decent person, she had had more than her share of tragedy. We became friends, and my outlook on life changed forever. No subject was taboo for her, and she made it her personal mission to cure me of my naivete. I blushed so much that year that the capillaries in my face were permanently enlarged. More importantly, she knocked holes in my belief that bad things only happened to bad people, which I hope has made me a more compassionate person.
After college, I kept in touch with Reality for a little while, but lost contact with her after she moved to Florida, got married and had a child. That was almost 27 years ago. Still, I thought of her often, and even tried, unsuccessfully, googling her several times to see if I could find an address.
Yesterday evening, just before turning off my computer for the night, I had an email from Ms Reality Check. She had found an old letter of mine (she kept my letters!), and decided to look me up. I am walking on air today.