Answering Your Questions

 If you’ve been reading the Satan stories…that’s cool. They’re fun to write.

Why did I call it Satan Lives in Riverside Park? I wanted to get your attention, first, and because it’s kind of a joke, and a mystery. Well, I live in Riverside Park…am I Satan? (I don’t know why spell check keeps capitalizing that word; he must be important). Maybe. What I did was pretty evil. And most people say I’m a nice person. I’m glad I only really drank for eight years of my life, the last year being the absolute worst.

Do I really think my alcoholic ex boyfriend is really Satan? No. He’s kind of a mean drunk, but he has his positives. He took a chance on a girl thirty years younger than him…who eventually screwed him over (one drunk is bad, but what’s worse is two drunks who think they’re in love). I have guilt about that, but like A.A. says, it’s best not to make amends to some people. As my Uncle Cravon used to say, Let sleeping dogs lie. 

Yet I write these stories, for my benefit and yours (“Are you not entertained?!”), and just to see if I could. And I have to say, I think they’re pretty good. The subject matter is, well…sad, but the story telling surprises me.

You’re probably wondering, if I was drinking so much at that time (in 2023, for context) how do I remember what happened? Well, either I wasn’t that drunk or I have a really good memory (or both). I know for a fact I wasn’t blackout drunk, because some really bad things would’ve happened (and maybe they did and I don’t remember?). But unluckily for me, I can recall most of it. It’s a curse and a blessing…for a writer.

What does Satan have to do with all of this? I don’t know. People like to blame him for shit, so I might as well jump on the bandwagon. I could break it down simply as: alcohol=addiction=hell=satan (and if you’re enjoying your addiction, good for you). But I think we cause our own Hell. Christian author Robert Bell describes Hell as “the very real consequences we experience [in this life] when we reject the good and true and beautiful life that God has for us.” 

And thats what I did: I rejected love, and I embraced alcohol (my substitute for love). And I’m still trying to get back to the good and the true and the beautiful.

And I’m still wondering if Satan really does live in this trailer park….(cause if he does I might want to have a talk with him. And a little compensation for all the free advertising/name dropping)…

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