Andrew Koenig is missing.  He has not been seen since February 14th in Vancouver, Canada.  We all remember Andrew as Mike Seaver's best friend Richard "Boner" Stabone.  He was the lovable doofus on Growing Pains.  He was never the smartest cat in the room but always willing go to the mat for his buddy Mikey.  Andrew's father played Chekov on the original Star Trek series.  So he is nerd royalty.   

   I really hope, for the sake of his friends and family, that Andrew comes home.  He apparently sent his mother and father a letter before he disappeared.  His father, Walter, said the letter made him worried because Andrew sounded despondent.  Personally, I have not heard or seen anything from Andrew since Growing Pains went off the air.  Frankly, I assumed he was still 16, hanging out with Mikey, and making fun of Carol.  I find it very hard to project a "real life" to the television characters I grew up with.  Obviously, I know they do.  However, my childhood memories of seeing them on TV are happy ones.  I want to keep that happy little moment alive in my brain.  I don't want those characters to have real life problems like we do.  They are my happy warm center where I retreat when things go south.  Some people read, write, eat, cry, sleep, drink, drug, or go hire a hooker when life gets rough.  I curl up and turn on television shows from my childhood.  It works for me.  I have tried all of those other things, but none seem to bring me back from the brink like TV memories.  They allow me to remember that life can be good.     

   When I hear a story like this it makes me realize how craptacular life can be for everyone.  We all need a warm center to hover around; to warm our souls when the bitter winds of life blow through.  I hope all of us find something that works.  I have fallen into deep despair and it is a nasty climb back out.  Sometimes the falls are unavoidable, but having a safety line can be crucial.  Not everyone survives the fall; sometimes it is just too far.  Tonight I'll pray for Andrew Koenig and for anyone else on the edge because someone prayed for me as my fingers were losing their sandy grip on the brink of hope.