In 1980, I decided to set off on an adventure. I left my ancestral home.
I traveled across this great land by train.
I landed on the other side of the country.
I was carrying a suitcase, my father’s army duffel bag, and my typewriter.
And when I walked through this gate, my life began.
Seattle, I quickly discovered, was a city of astounding beauty.
I settled in. I was a strange visitor from another planet with powers and abilities far beyond that of mortal men.
I had a career as a writer.
I also had a career that made the regular money.
I met the woman who became my wife (on the left).
I made an army of friends who were ready for whatever came our way.
I became a home owner.
We bought dogs from a nice English lady (they were overrunning her castle).
I dwelled in this magical, mostly wet land for 21 happy years. Now I live somewhere else…
…but I still owe everything to Seattle. I arrived on Thursday, January 10, 1980. Thirty-five years ago today.
All postcards are from the Run-DMSteve collection, with eternal thanks to Rudi Rubberoid for getting me started. Don’t get me started. This post is dedicated to the revolving neon signs that once owned the night in downtown Seattle. The three I remember are Beat the Clock (a 24-hour diner), the Seattle Post-Intelligencer globe (“It’s in the P-I!”), and Elephant Car Wash. They spin still in some alternate reality, under the bluest skies you’ve ever seen. Now go forth, have adventures, and get on a train!
Run-DMSteve 
Dear Mr. Run-You sound very unhappy in the present. Wouldn’t you be happier living back in Seattle? This “family” you speak of makes you and/or your comrades sound like Charles Manson. Was he a friend of yours? And this “Rubberoid” guy…is he actually one of your superhero, imaginary friends from “another planet”? How many postcards do you have in your collection?
Sir: I am actually very happy in the present. But when I look over my life, I’m struck by how lucky I’ve been. It takes my breath away.
Would I be happier living back in Seattle? In 1980 or today? I’d be happier if I had my 24-year-old body back, that’s for sure! Then I could go back to a rave with a good expectation of surviving.
My friends can do anything. Probably not massacre anyone. But most other things.
Rudi Rubberoid should’ve been a member of the Justice League of America. He would’ve looked good in a cape. But he was far too modest.
How many postcards do I have…you’ll laugh if I give you a number. I am but a pebble on your shoe.
Congratulations on your Seattle debut 35 years ago! You arrived in Seattle in 1980 and changed our lives! I think we met at a con sometime in 1981. As I remember Jerry K found me and said he needed someone who could talk baseball with someone since no one else could (non-sports fans that most sf fans were) and introduced us, And then our history began — casual acquaintances, to friends, and then to family. You can choose your friends, you can’t choose your relatives, but you can choose your family.
Pauline: We met at Orycon here in Portland over the Halloween weekend, October 1980. If someone had told me that I could move across the country and find another family, I would’ve laughed. But it happened! I have a lot to be thankful for. That decision I made all those years ago was the best decision I ever made.
It was a BRILLIANT decision! I should know.
#blush#