I’ve visited my cousin, visited my Jr. High School girlfriend, visited old friends from dance, visited my mother-in-law … But the best experience of the week:
I got together with Curt and Pam, two of my best friends from the Jr. College I attended. Curt was the friend that when I had a 6:45 AM MWF class and a 7-10:00 PM T/Th class … he offered me his bed to sleep in (he worked nights) so I didn’t have to commute 45 mins each way to go home. He and Pam were part of a crowd of us that used to claim a table in the cafeteria and spend the day together, classes excepted. The last time we saw each other was my wedding, almost 12 years ago. By then we lived almost 90 minutes apart, and we all had busy lives wrapped up in careers and kids.
When they heard I was coming down for two weeks, they told me they would come out to the East Bay to meet me and Adam. We decided to spend the day at the Oakland Zoo, so their kids had something to do while the adults hung back and caught up. After the zoo, we went to Fuddruckers.
I got to talk with their daughter, who was a baby at my wedding last time we met. I got to goof off with their 7 year old son, whom I had never met before but was instant friends with (once he figured out that I was almost as silly as his dad). I got to watch Adam hit it off with Curt, wanting to know more about Curt’s career in teaching music. Then Adam got shuttled off to interact with the kids, have a good time, and generally perform the job of babysitter … he was great at it! Things went so well that when we got to dinner, his son insisted he was going to move north and come live with me. When I said “but your dad would miss you!” he responded “Well, we could come down and visit him sometimes!”
And that summed up the experience of the day … we need to come down and visit him sometimes. At the end of the day, I was exhausted, but at the same time smiling and refreshed … feeling like everything was right in the world. I still missed my family, but I slept better than I have all week.
So … next time needs to be sooner than another 12 years. Let’s shoot for measuring in months this time (and single digits, at that!).
It will help us all survive!
aka: goofdad
3 comments:
Sounds like fun! I love reconnecting with people, especially when you realize how much you treasure their company.
so glad you had a nice time. The bay area really isn't that bad.
It is a relief to know that there are others who are crazy busy too -- but sounds like time well spent. Spending time with people who "knew me when" whenever "when" happened to be is always rejuvenating and gets me back to center. Sounds like you had a similar experiences - although I get the sense you are more centered than most on a regular basis.
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