Hooked on Bobby

               There we were, dining at a new five-star French Restaurant in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. The setting was beautiful, the food delicious and the company, well, the company was interesting. I was invited to try out the restaurant because of my connections with "foodies" in Los Angeles. "Foodies" are people who love food and eat out frequently. When a new restaurant opens, bringing the right people to the establishment is almost as important as the menu. Back then, we didn't have computers or Facebook  Restaurants relied on word of mouth. Apparently, my mouth had clout in the city of angels.
               I brought my boyfriend Bobby with me and he brought his doll Eddie. Luckily, the waiters were good sports and went along with Bobby's eccentricity. During dinner, the conversation quickly became serious, even though we were sitting across from a ventriloquist dummy. I learned a few facts about Bobby that explained his erratic behavior and what I would later learn was his addiction to alcohol. Back then, I had little knowledge of the disease of alcoholism or co-dependency.

                Despite all the issues I had with my parents over the years, I did appreciate the fact that my mom and dad were dedicated to each other and stayed married until my mom died in 2000. Bobby, on the other hand, shared with me that his father had been married several times. In fact, Bobby’s band played at his dad’s last nuptial ceremony.

“That must have been weird,” I speculated, thinking about how I would feel performing if my parents ever got divorced.

“Nah, it was one of my band’s last shows before we split up. We got totally wasted with my dad. He even sat in with us on a few songs and played my guitar. I don’t remember much but friends still talk about it, we were that good.”

That's all I needed to hear to hook me. I would be the one to help Bobby. 

When we left, Bobby actually strapped Eddie into a seat belt.

“I don’t want anything to happen to the little guy,” he said, grinning.

“Maybe you should get him a child’s car sea,” I suggested.

“That’s a great idea,” he answered. But he never did get a car seat for his doll.