Up From the Grave (and Right Back In Again)

Yesterday, I had the incredible delight of seeing a good friend from grade school, Carl. He and I were buddies all the way through to 8th grade, but sadly, we went to different high schools, and then his family moved to Massachusetts during our senior year. The last time I saw him in person was when I went to visit him there shortly after I graduated. Other than that, we had little to no contact. I suppose, though I don't immediately recall, I found him somewhere on the interweb, and we managed to maintain an email correspondence about 4 years ago. I last emailed him in July of 2006 about some random garbage, and then yesterday, he emailed me back stating he's in New Jersey and asked if I was in Monmouth County, which is where we grew up. Honestly, my answer suffered some brevity because I more or less told him, "Nope. Come find me." But he did!

To be frank, I was a bit nervous about seeing him. Probably 20 minutes before he arrived, I had this sudden panic: What if we have absolutely nothing to talk about or in common? You know this has happened to you before. You're out somewhere, and you run into someone you abso-fucking-lutely loved in school/work/whatever. Your immediate conversation is an amalgam of "OMG Hi! How are you? What are you doing? Where are you living? How's so-and-so?" and it goes on. But once all the how's are answered, they devolve into what's, and then it becomes "so..." and it's over. You no longer are pulling pranks together. You no longer are going to your favorite place every Friday. You aren't even dealing with the same issues. What the FUCK was your friendship about? This is so awkward! I mean, it's lovely to see the other person, but there's nothing, not a goddamn thing to talk about from there. You don't even want to suggest doing something you used to do. The magic is gone.

Sadly, it becomes worse when you know you're in the area of someone you used to see all the time, and both of you actively pursue hanging out. You actually schedule hours of your day to devote to seeing this amazing person. I think my worst experience with this was the last time I went to the Bay Area in California. I actually went with a friend from high school, but she and I are still friendly and communicate without issue. We both were friends with this girl when we were in high school, and she lives in San Francisco. We made arrangements to meet up with her, do a little shopping, and then go to a Bad Movie Night together. Well, it wasn't the reunion I hoped for. I used to see this girl so often and pick her up in my car and go see independent movies together. I had such high hopes. But the night was mostly, "So..." Every now and again, she'd mentioned something particularly strange that happens or happened, but it was as interesting as reading one of those Strange Yet True books they had when you were little. Then the bad movie was actually so bad, it was humourless. (Star Wars Holiday Special, if you're curious.) My friend and I left early, and other than minor phone calls, I have not spoken to the other girl again.

Yesterday was nothing like that, though. Carl arrived, came in, sat down, and we just chatted straight through for a while. Of course, we asked how the other was, what the other was doing, and all the usual stuff, but we actually managed to chat about recreational time, relationships, and more. He was down here just for a high school reunion, so he had to go to that, but we managed to convince him to come out to dinner with us, and that was also lovely (if anything, because Francesco loves his barbecue). I also insisted he stay with us after the reunion. We have a free couch bed, and I cannot fathom seeing someone I respect so much overpaying for some dumpy motel. On second thought, though, we only had a wall unit for air conditioning, so maybe it would've been worthwhile. Oh, well.

Anyhoo, I appreciate life's little surprises, and this was certainly unexpected. My biggest ambitions for the day were for Francesco to cut my hair and for me to clean the bathroom. Only the former happened, though, once I received a text message (in perfect English, mind you) from Carl stating he would be over in an hour. I did, at the very least, vacuum the wall-to-wall carpeting that was our bathroom hall full of hair. To think I'd receive a reply to an almost four-year-old email and get to see someone I hadn't seen in almost ten years who I went to school with almost fourteen years ago is just an awesome drop of good fortune. I'm not one for signs, karma, or luck, but it was nice to have someone successful, intelligent, and interesting drop by my life so randomly. I hope to see Carl again, but even if we don't intersect, I find his visit yesterday to be inspirational. I could be. I really could be.

Note: Carl also is the first house guest to remove the sheets from the bed, put the couch back in order, and move our coffee table back into position AND pay for dinner. And he's single, ladies!