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Introduction3minutes after closing. The next day she left work early, again drove to the post office, paid the COD fee, and ripped the package open in the parking lot. The Fool and her money had indeed been parted.So, I%u2019ve been called a fool for much of my life, but it took some maturing and growing up to realize it was really a compliment. Throughout history, fools have been important characters in literature and mythology. Shakespeare gave his fools the ability to see through pretensions and hypocrisy, and had them speak the honest, but unwelcome, truth %u2014 often in a mocking way. In the Tarot, the Fool card, Number 0, is very special, for it represents Everyman, on his (or her) journey through Life. Some believe the Fool signifies inexperience, and should be placed at the beginning of the deck, as we are at birth, ready to begin our journey. Other Tarot aficionados place the Fool at the end of the deck, after he%u2019s learned all he can from Life, has become wise, and truly responsible. Though seemingly contradictory, both interpretations can be correct.As you can see, this book is written in a single voice %u2014 John%u2019s %u2014 but that%u2019s only to make it easier to read. In the early drafts, some chapters were in Lynn%u2019s voice, some in John%u2019s. Then, by the time we edited each other%u2019s work, our distinctive voices became combined. So while Fools%u2019 Journey is told from John%u2019s point of view, the following pages are very much a collaboration.The names and identifying characteristics of a few individuals have been changed to protect their privacy. In addition, some episodes have been combined, and the timeline has been altered slightly, to allow the narrative to flow smoothly. The rest is accurate within the limits of memory. John and Lynn Bower