Mr. Zanheiser, my fifth grade teacher...

This was the beginning of four very bleak years for me, but you were always compassionate. You played a piano in the back of the classroom while we worked, which had the North Shore parents atwitter, but you didn’t care.

Christine, a redhead, but not a Strawberry Girl (and my computer "issues" have forced me into delinquency)

I was in awe of Christine because, as our landlord back in the days of tough-as-nails Humboldt Park, she had no qualms about confronting the neighborhood ‘bangers. She had a caustic wit and steely determination I couldn’t help but admire.

Felicia, my first nerd friend...

You were skinny and nervous with a sweet smile and demanding parents. We were friends from kindergarten until junior high, when we went separate ways. You taught me how to turn ice cream into a milkshake. You're a lawyer today.

J.T.: A mentor and dear friend...

You were a wonderful elf of a man, running the printshop like a benevolent creature out of a Grimms fairytale. You swore to me that at a different time, we would be married. To you, life and art were interchangeable.

Raw Doug...

You prance around in these ridiculous short shorts because you are convinced that your raw foods diet has helped you look like you are thirty years younger. In reality, Doug, you are an angry, judgmental little man with hair plugs.

Aunt Minnie (actually Great Aunt Minnie, but whatever...) had the secret to happiness apparently.

What a sweet soul you were, always baking Spry cookies and sewing these adorable aprons; you were widowed young and working your whole life but perpetually happy. At ninety, you still took the bus once a week to visit grandma.

John Probes, a brilliant bartender and very loyal friend...

John briefly dated my friend, then we became friends and we all had a blast together for several years until he died of alcoholism. He was a talented photographer and an amazingly gifted conversationalist.