living in the past

Once in a while you find old friends you thought were lost forever.

Today I received an email from my brother; there were a couple of issues we were discussing, but he had some "new" news for me.

One of my best friends, possibly my very best friend from my youth, had finally shown up on Classmates.com.

I had lost track of this gentleman for over ten years at one point, finally contacted him once, then lost contact again for seven years. My sincere hope is that he will respond to the email I sent him from Classmates.com so that I can speak to my old friend once again.

Brian, I miss you. You and your unique humor, intelligence and optimism. It was a pleasure and honor to know you.

Now, I had another great friend from this time - Ron - and to tell you the truth, I'm not sure which of the two was a better friend when we were kids. Ron and I had our share of fights. Physical conflicts, followed by political hatred, but we ended up allies in the end. Strange but true. In fact, Ron came to my rescue a number of years ago when I was in desperate need of employment - any employment - and he needed help in his landscaping business. Brian and I never had any physical conflicts, but sometimes the serious conflicts create closer relationships than the long-term good relationships.

Ron found me sleeping in the cab of his Jeep one autumn morning. Needless to say, he was wondering who was in his truck. We were both happy when he came out and found me!

"Ron!"

"Jay! What the heck are you doing here?"

Well, it was cold and I needed a place to sleep; I found my old neighborhood and saw Ron's Jeep. I hoped for the best.

I spent a few weeks doing landscaping with Ron before moving on. Winter weather sort of ends that kind of work in Rochester, NY.