Back to the Future

I got a chance (through two very different circumstances) to spend a little time with a couple of old pals this weekend. One was my best friend since junior high (including a three year stint as my college roomy). The other was a fellow trumpet player from high school band - I now confess to being a band nerd...

Friend #2 lives in Columbus and the wife and I were invited to his home for a wedding shower honoring a young couple I had never met (??). It's a little complicated, but the groom's parents are fairly recent transplants to the area and we sing in the FPC choir together. The parents had lived in Columbus for a time several years back and were (and still are) good friends with the hosts. Somehow, that got us on the guest list - and at a very posh address according to the invitation.

The home itself was breathtakingly opulent, but even more gratifying was about 30 minutes I got to spend catching up with the man of the house. This guy looks in really great shape - and I find out he "recently" discovered triathlons. The killer deal is that he said he didn't run, bike or swim until three years ago. At least that's what he tells me.

I couldn't run a 5K without an ambulance somewhere in plain view...

My catching up with friend #1 was under what couldn't have been more grim circumstances. His mom had died a few days earlier and Marquita and I decided to try to catch him at the funeral home visitation (also in Columbus. By the way, I grew up in Columbus in case that fact has escaped any of you regular readers). I missed a similar chance at his Dad's funeral about five years ago (I was in Florida) and at his older sister's funeral (again, I was in Florida. What does that mean??). In spite of good excuses both times, I though there might be some resentment hovering.

I had not seen or spoken with this guy in about 15 years or so. He lives near Nashville and even though I've been up to that area quite a bit, we've never gotten together. Sometimes you just drift apart when you don't make an effort - my bad.

It felt a little weird when I first approached him at the wake, but he seemed genuinely glad to see me and we just picked up the conversation right where we left off the last time we talked. He's remarried, has a 7 year old, and is a farmer of sorts. Who knew? We left each other promising to each do a better job of keeping in touch.

I guess these two encounters just reinforce my feelings that old true friends are for life. And they're always good to savor...