Time Stands Still

This is a picture from this evening. In it are four dear friends. It was taken not more than an hour ago, yet it could have been taken 10 years ago. That is what it felt like when we sat down with Kris and Angie, in town for just a few hours after nearly a decade hiatus. We spent the better part of the mid to late 90s attached at the hip to those two. Angie and I met at our first jobs out of college. Meager wages at a non-profit, but both ready to change the world. It was to this day, my favorite job of my life.

We became fast friends. Kris was a grad student, they weren't even married yet. We were the older "mentor" couple, but they taught us how to have some fun. Camping, Mt. bike rides and a true appreciation for the X-files. We argued endlessly over the meaning behind the meaning of all sorts of things. Kris and Angie cultivated our love for fine wine and good food, mostly prepared in their tiny little duplex. Kris is directly responsible for my love of a big red cabernet and our dog Casey Jones is directly responsible for his conversion to a dog lover and I suspect his current ownership of two Golden Retrievers. We traveled on a four layover Southwest Flight and rented a Chevy Lumnia, just to get to their wedding in Wisconsin. They are two of the best people we have ever known and seeing them tonight brought it all back.

Time and life pulled us apart. Kris graduated and looked for a faculty job closer to their family in the Midwest. Time has brought them two beautiful boys, a lovely house and successful careers. We have visited once, they visited once and there have been e-mails and Christmas cards. If not for Facebook, we might have inevitably drifted completely apart. Thank god for Facebook. I got the message they were coming, and could we meet up which lead to tonight just an hour ago.

Eating dinner together, laughing, sharing stories of family and friends and laughing at the years gone by. Yet it felt as if none had. I guess that is the mark of true friends. You can pick right back up where you left off, as if time has stood still. Now they are gone again, and all I have is the warmth in my heart of a wonderful evening spent with treasured friends. That and a photograph. A photograph and a promise that true friends are worth the effort. I hope we see them again soon. Cheers and safe travels my wonderful friends. We adore you.