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An old former friend…
Let’s start over. A friend and former colleague (Tom) of many years ago found me on linkedIn. Shot me an email and said let’s connect, an invitation I quickly accepted, and then lo and behold a few days later he shoots me another email to tell me he and two friends are coming to Anchorage to begin a motorcycle tour of Alaska. That’s Tom on the right, Neil middle, and Neil’s brother, Chris, far left, beside their Beemers. Happy Wife and I dropped them off here and wished them safe travel on their whirlwind tour of south-central Alaska. They rode north to Talkneeta last night, and then in the seven (!) days to follow: Denali and Fairbanks, the Richardson Hwy to Valdez, a one day ride to Seward (>400 miles) with a day of kayaking in Aialik Bay (Happy Wife was drooling at this), summer solstice in Homer, then back to Anchorage on the 22nd to fly home. Whew.
Tom and I met in ’85 when we were professional youngin’s getting our start in BigOil in Plano, Tx. When the layoffs hit he ventured northeast to work in hydrology, I stayed with the company and moved to California. We exchanged Christmas cards & letters for few years until eventually, as too often happens, we fell out of touch.
We had time for dinner and reminiscing before dropping them off. At the restaurant Tom reminded me of one of those times “one never forgets” back in ’86 in my Texas apartment. It was an amusing story, for sure, but nevertheless one that involved a recall of my ex-wife, related memories of whom I have been quite content to let lie quiescent these past 20 years. What ever happened between you two, he wondered. I replied with the short version, the very short version, which left him a bit wide-eyed as it does most people. Not that I have the most interesting divorce tale to tell, but because real life circumstances involving perfidy and regret never loose their appeal in storytelling.
“Besides,” I said as I flung my arm around Happy Wife pulling her close, “eventually I upgraded. Don’t you think?” A hearty affirmative nod, the kind oft associated with the exclamation, “Man, you ain’t kiddin’!”
I hope they have time to say good bye before they leave Anchorage on the 22nd to return home. Would love to hear their impressions of this place we call home.