You can’t tell someone they’re going to Cleveland the next day and walk away without giving an explanation. At least that’s how I felt. So after she left I hurried to Lori’s office to find her already behind her desk, ostensibly poring over a script. Of course she knew I’d be coming and was looking forward to having a little fun. So I stood just inside her office and asked, “And…and?!”

She looked up at me and grinned, putting the script aside. She said, “You know who’s in Cleveland, don’t you?’

“Yeah.” The Care Bears were owned by Those Characters From Cleveland who, in turn, was owned by American Greetings. “But why am I going there?”

Lori answered, “They micromanage things and with Sandy departing suddenly they probably want to look you over.” She could see I wasn’t sure how to take that, so she said, “You’ll do fine. You survived a meeting at Judy’s office.”

I nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t think they’re going to greet me with ‘Jackie-poo!!!’”

“You’re from the Midwest. You’ll have shared values. Just be yourself,” Lori reminded.

When I asked what time Andy and I were leaving, Lori said, “You’re flying separately.”

I asked, “Why?”

Matter-of-factly she explained, “Andy figures if you’re on separate flights and one

of the planes crashes then you won’t both be killed.” I was silent, waiting to see if she

was joking. Then she added, “He’s deathly afraid of flying.”

This was getting better by the moment. But I couldn’t, in a million years, guess

what was coming next.