This ad drew four responses. One was from a woman who simply wanted a roommate. One was a woman who just wanted a man who would take her on dinner dates; I went on one date with her and found that she wasn't at all what I was looking for. One woman sent no letter, only a photo and a post office box as a return address; I never answered her.

The fourth letter was three pages handwritten and was absolutely marvelous: just what I was looking for (except that she said that she didn't like modern jazz).

When I got to the end of this wonderful letter and looked at the signature, I saw that it was from one of my former girl friends.

I wrote back and said, ``Mildly neurotic? You've got to be kidding!''

It was a good thing, though. It gave us a reason to get back in touch with each other.

She was actually a pretty good girl friend in a lot of ways. She lives too far away from me now for it to be convenient for us to date, and besides, she's living with a guy. But we talk on the phone every now and then.