Friends in high places

I find it amazing how important connections with other people are to a person as anti-social as I am.  I have a few childhood friends that started out as friends more out of convenience than because of any deep personal connection.  Those friendships have lasted because of our history and in some cases because we have found ourselves on similar paths with similar interests.


The life changing friendships are the ones made in the most unexpected places.  I spent my weekend with someone who has lived a life that couldn't be more different than mine, even if you ignored the age difference.  He and my mother grew up together.  Last year I finally got to meet Evan and his wonderful wife, Chris.  The connection for me was instantaneous.  I have a hard time articulating what it felt like and what it means to me, but I am going to try.  

I don't know if I really believe in the concept of souls, but if I were to have one, mine would be inexplicably drawn to Evan's.  It almost feels as though I am a part of him and he is a part of me.  He is the most open, honest, and nonjudgmental person I have ever met.  His stories, insight, and advice have brightened my life so much that I feel cheated to have only gotten to experience him for a year so far.  I hope that my emails have helped him as much as his have helped me.

Getting to visit with him again reminded me that we have surprisingly similar personalities.  We have this common darkness inside that can choke us if we aren't careful.  It makes us laugh at the same warped things and find happiness in motorcycle rides that last hours but feel like minutes.  We can sit across the table from each other and verbally spar for hours.  No one else can make fun of me as effectively as he can.  

It was heartbreaking to leave after only two days.  It felt like I was leaving behind a part of myself I didn't know I had, in a place I didn't realize was home.  I am so grateful to know him and to get the opportunity to learn from his life experience and enjoy the beauty of his surroundings. He has built himself a hermit's paradise that any self-respecting people hater would admire.  It just so happens that this people hater loves him and his home. I can't wait to see him again.  Maybe I will shoot for February when the skies are dark and the mountains are bare and the darkness is threatening to consume us both.  Once a year is not be enough of a 3D fix for me!