Reconnection Time

During several stages of my life, I kept hearing the phrase "These are the friends you make for life."

I speak to one friend from my elementary school days, but only infrequently. There's another friend whom I met in the fifth grade before he moved away that I chat with a lot more now that Al Gore has linked us together through these happy interwebs.

My best friend I met in middle school. He's also about the only guy I talk to from high school.

In grad school, I keep in touch with about three of my friends, and only one of those is from my lab group. He and his wife just recently had a beautiful little girl, thus proving that he is, indeed, an excellent organic chemist.

Most of the friends I consider "lifers" come from those halcyon days experienced whilst roaming the halls of St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, IN. I can only imagine that this turn of phrase, "make friends for life," must apply to my college experience. I've mentioned a few of them in this blog already: Will, the man pretty much responsible for my blogging life, and Steve, with whom I lived for a semester. Then there was Young Bob, Fr. K., Matt O., Scooter, Pip, and Mary. Each of them is special and touched me in their own way. Will and Steve were drinking buddies, Fr. K. got me roped into this Catholic thing, Matt O. influenced my musical tastes, Young Bob introduced me to Kevin Smith and taught me new and creative ways of swearing, and on and on. Of these, the most unique was Mary, for the obvious reason: she was the best looking.

Oh, yeah, she was the only girl. Maybe because of this, she was one of those with whom I shared some of my most emotive states. I can't think of anything that I couldn't tell her or wouldn't. She was just that great and easy to get along with. On top of that, Mary only lived about 30 miles from me, so we could meet up during the summer time and hang out. The long car ride across northern Indiana with Mary--either coming home or returning to campus--was the inspiration for the only screenplay I've ever thought of writing.

I'm telling you all of this because I got an email from Mary today. It was nothing much, just a quick note telling me she thought of me the other day. Like I said, it wasn't much, but sometimes it doesn't take much to make someone's day. That's certainly what this quick little note did for me. I hadn't heard from her for some time; I haven't seen her for much longer...probably something close to eight years. The last I heard from her, she was heading to Germany to be with her husband, who was stationed there. To say that I was ecstatic to hear from her again would be an understatement. Where she is and what she's doing (aside from thinking of me while playing a game with her son), I haven't a clue. I just know that I have reconnected with a friend that I held dear, and that makes me smile.

Now, if you'll pardon me for a bit, I've some catching up to do.