Dina, and, a May 21, 1987 greeting card

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Dina was one of my three pen pals from Alabama. She was 5' 6" tall and slender with huge eyes and long eyelashes. Her lashes may have been augmented by Max Factor, but there was no denying that she was the prettiest girl in our entire network of correspondents. She dreamed of being a model and once sent me a set of professional black and white pictures of her posing in various ways. One of them showed her full body profile with her posterior to the camera and her twisting around to smile for the camera. She had a great figure, though was probably too short to be anything other than a catalog model.

Her beauty likely informed her personality difference among those in our network. She was confident, strident, and outgoing. Most of the other women I corresponded with were fat, unattractive, or socially incompetent. Some were all of these things. Dina was definitely the most popular of us with men. She had more boyfriends than all of the rest of us combined.

Despite being pretty and popular, Dina was warm and kind to her fat friends. This wasn't my usual experience as most people dismissed me or treated me as unworthy of attention if they knew my weight. Dina was also different in that she paid attention to what I said and liked. Most people gave me gifts that they wanted to receive rather than thinking about who I was and what I liked.

In my early college years, I took an art history class. This was when I was an "undecided" major and flirting with several options including art, math, chemistry, and psychology. I didn't end up studying art, which was probably wise considering the lack of career options though I doubt psychology was a vastly more profitable option in the long run, but I did find that I liked impressionist painters.

Dina took note of this and sent me a box of greeting cards with four impressionist paintings on the front for my birthday around 1985. I was delighted with the glossy printing and blank interior. When I wanted to send a pen pal a special note, I used one of these cards.

The first card I ever sent Tito was on one of these cards. I've since learned the proper use of "literally," and, since I'm clearly still alive, it's obvious that I was incorrect in my wording.