Article July 8, 2002 Issue

The loyalty of friends

By Ari Denison Sentinel staff

I was sitting on my sister's couch in Orlando, taking stock of everything I still had. Not a lot, it seemed. I'd just broken up with my girlfriend, quit my job, wasn't rock climbing anymore, hadn't been taking photos for months. And I was feeling very depressed. Worse, I felt myself slipping further downward. As far as I was concerned, I had virtually nothing left.

My sister was nice enough to let me stay with her for a few days. She knew the breakup had been especially tough and had given me one of her airline "buddy" passes so I could get out of Eugene, Oregon. I gladly accepted her generosity. The last time I'd battled depression, I'd taken a road trip by myself from the East Coast to L.A., and then on to Eugene. It had done a world of good for me. So now I thought going to Florida, where I'd never been, would help put some emotional distance between my problems and me. New sights, new people, new traffic laws. Sometimes it's the little things that make a difference.

My sister and I spent a couple of days playing tourist. We did the typical stuff—Disneyworld, Gatorland, even a fanboat ride through the wetlands looking for wildlife. I ate sushi for the first time and went to a comedy club with a dueling piano show. Despite how I felt overall, I had a good time.

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