Year-End Update: Revisiting Scenes and People From 1986 View Stories : Too Much Support?

View has revisited some of the people and places it reported on in 1986 to update their stories. Among them:

--A shelter for the homeless that was itself homeless.

--An author who had new ideas about how to market and promote his book.

--The campaign to save Nancy Reagan’s 1981 inaugural gown, which is stretching under the weight of its bugle beads.

A San Diego support group for single women involved with married men worked so well that the group nearly ended.

Psychologist JoAnn Bitner said that after gaining insight into their situations, about 80% of the women left their married partners and stopped coming to the group. Only three or four members remain, although Bitner said she will accept new members.

“Mostly it granted support and a place for women to hear themselves speak and to then realize the reality of their situation,” said Bitner, who organized the group, which View reported on last January.

“If you have to defend yourself, you can lie to yourself and present one side of the issue, but if you’re given the opportunity to explore what you think, you’ll come up with both sides.

“And of course the idea of being the only one in the world in love with a married man and hearing other people with the same story changes your perception of how special your situation is.”

Bitner said that most of the women realized that they had made commitments of two to six years and that no matter how long they waited, the men were not likely to leave their wives. So they decided to end the relationship. Most are happy they did, she said.