Visiting at the present is a good friend, her husband, and two children from Edmonton. We had lost touch in the melee of life, and it has probably been 10+ years since we last saw each other. Somewhere between the wedding, in which I was a Bridesmaid, the first baby, my clinical year and start of life as a shift worker...we just lost touch. The beauty of now is a quick google and you can find almost anyone nowadays, and so i did that about a year and a half ago. And so this week we are reacquainting in Bermuda.
One of the kids is 7. His homework while missing school includes a journal of his daily activities, which he read to me at dinner at the Swizzle Inn last night (famous for its rum swizzle...I swear this was not my recommendation to take the kids to another pub, but the hotel sent them there because it was rib night). "Then we met my moms friend Jenny. We went to Wahooooos. On Wensday we wetn to Hamilton for a festival market. Then we went to Flanagan's." Yup the 7 year old is leaving here knowing how to spell the name of Irish pubs before days of the week, and this is the legacy I am creating, In my defense, it was the only place open to kill time while waiting for a bus to take them back to the hotel. But I felt a little remorse thinking of the teacher's impression of this Jenny when he reads this to the class.
It has been fun, and what was really interesting to me was the dynamic of an old friendship renewed. People, places, and events that had been consigned to the past for so long that i would not be able to recall them on my own suddenly leaped out in my mind as fresh memories in our dialogue, and the recall would come from an expression of speech, or an expression crossing one of our faces. Random conversations of the present, ie tax law, would bring up an ancient memory and much laughter. "I am not a tax accountant, but I know one," she said. "You better not mean Disappointment Dave," I said before I could even remember Dave's last name, what he looked like, or why he was a disappointment. She quickly replied with "Disappointment Dave the angry gay accountant?!?!?" "OMG!!! Yes, him, I forgot about him being angry and gay." "No not him." Now poor Dave was probably none of these things, except for the accountant part, but he had the fortune (or misfortune) of working with us in an office about 20 years ago. He was a fit, attractive man who had the strange tendency to stop talking, stand up, and leave whenever I entered a room. His aversion to me got him the moniker "The Angry Accountant." After a couple of years, he started smiling at me some days, charging out on others, but never talking to me. So we decided maybe he was shy and not angry. A young group of professionals, the company had some sweet perks -- a corner office on the 25th floor of of a downtown skyscraper overlooking the river valley AND downtown, skybox tickets for concerts and sporting events in town, a jet and a bunch of fancy cars which they did not share with us, and VIP access to a chain of popular nightclubs. One night the angry accountant was out with his group, saw me, and marched right over, looked me in the eye, opened and shut his mouth without a word and stormed off. At 20 years old, that qualifies as "oh, he really likes you." Which may have been true. On one other occasion where he wordlessly marched up and grabbed my hand to pull me onto the dance floor (and in my ever present state of grace I slipped in my stilettos on the first stair and fell down the steps, but rose immediately in a force resembling absolute levitation caused by the mortification I was feeling, but the accountant never looked back and remained forever unaware. This lack of gentlemanly awareness is when Disappointment got added to the moniker.) While the accountant never saw my fall (or ever managed a hello let alone ask me out on a date -- hence the gay addition to the moniker), my friend remembered it with absolute clarity last night, so 20 years later, as did I, and we got a good laugh at Disappointment Dave, the angry gay accountant (disclaimer -- after maturing for 2 decade using gay in the moniker was offensive and I sincerely apologize. Clearly I frighten men of any sexual orientation, occupation, etc etc etc and this was a misnomer of ignorant youth. My apologies to all of the accountants who may have been offended by this tale. The end).
Except it's not the end. That is just a piece of the beginning of a new phase of the collective memories, experiences, and thoughts of two friends with many years to catch up on. Speaking with her face to face has uncovered a treasure trove of of smiles, stories, and snippets of who we were just becoming. What a treat! And what a relief to have another reminder that true friends are never forever lost.
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