“It’s Been a While”
An old friend reentered my life. It had been a while since we were last together. During the intervening years he has often crossed my mind. I have wondered about him. Missed him. Wanted to reconnect. But my “want to” never moved very far as I just turned my attention to other things and my focus went elsewhere. He’s back now. I am glad. He is welcome in my life again. I do not want him to be too far away in the days of journeying that are ahead.
I do not rightly remember the last time I had seen him. It had been several years though. A long time. Much too long. He appeared to have aged some. He has less hair than I remember. It is scruffy. It has turned salt and peppery; with more salt than pepper. His beard is scraggly and not well-trimmed. As a matter of fact- he is wearing exactly the same clothes that he was wearing when last I saw him. They are worn and tattered, wrinkled, faded, thin in the seat and at the knees, frayed around the edges. None of that seems to matter to him. His hat shows sweat stains and dirt; but it is cocked on his head as though it was made to be the finest crown of priceless jewels and he were a mighty king ruling over some powerful empire. His shoes- well let’s just say he needs a cobbler. He still has a giddy-up in his steps, though he does limp slightly. When I asked about the limp he stated it was probably the result of a broken foot he suffer many years ago. He has not lost any noticeable weight. Hasn’t put on any either. Considering that it has been a while since I last saw him, he seems to be fairing pretty well.
He and I spent some time getting caught up with each other. I gave him the rundown on my life since we were last together. Knowing of his interest, I told him about the deaths of my grandfather, my parents, my daughter, and my brother. He seemed genuinely saddened to have not been with me to share my grief and to comfort me during those times. He appears to look forward to learning more of the details about where I am in my life now and to gaining insight into the people that are meaningful to me at this point in my journey. The news of my retirement seems to be well received by him as he expressed the hope that we might have more time to share the adventures of life together. From him, I have learned that he has spent most of his time enjoying closeness to books and artifacts. He has been alone a lot. Quiet. Peaceful. He has had time for the recollection of memories. He has learned to make the best out of things and to look forward with anticipation and excitement.
He stayed with me for a while. He had no place else to go. He and I shared the onward trek, facing up to whatever may be headed our way next. He seems to be genuinely pleased to have reconnected with me. I am genuinely pleased to have renewed my friendship with him. I tremble when I think how close I came to not opening that box from my storage bin because I was tired of dealing with the stuff I had packed away. So close to throwing him away! Even though “it’s been a while” since my little 6” ceramic statue has been in a place of prominence in the place where I live- he is there now and is not going away anytime soon.
One of the things about me that I have never really been able to fully understand are the reasons that I sometimes let meaningful relationships suffer from neglect. Old friends are important to me. However, I am not the best at maintaining relationships. Before I am aware of it, time has passed. Together we have shared so much of the adventures of life- both good and bad. We have passed hours in conversation- sharing hopes and dreams, fears and challenges, laughter and tears, and… But then our trail choices and life circumstances lead us apart. The first thing you know “it’s been a while”. I need to do better in this area of my life. Reunions can be special.