Well, my old friend came to visit yesterday afternoon. No, not trick or treat candy, although I did buy some. My friend from grade school in Pomona. We have been friends since the 5th grade. I remember this clearly because he was the bully on the playground with a broken collar bone. He broke his collar bone chasing, of all things, an ice cream truck. He fell off the bumper. Ouch!

How did I become friends with a bully? Well, for some reason he liked me and became my protector. Looking back on it now, I should have seen what was to come. But I was just a young boy barely 10 years old and he was 9. We liked to play tether ball and fly kites. I liked to jump rope with the girls. That was how he first defended me. Rather than poking fun, he joined in and that was the start of a great friendship.

As I mentioned the last time we were inseparable as kids. He was over our house almost daily. He went with us camping, to the beach, everywhere. I went to his family's cabin in the mountains. We were boy scouts. We went to the National Jamboree together. We got Eagle Scout together. He is still very much involved with scouting now. I stopped in my 20's about the time I came out. That too is when we stopped being so close.

So, how to catch up on 30 years in one afternoon/evening? Not really possible, but he was the same friend I remembered. I am sure we bored Rick to death, talking about the past he was not a part of, but maybe he got to see somethings from a different perspective. He seemed to enjoy the evening as well.

As to that question I was afraid to ask, he is gay. He divorced 10 years ago, partly because he was gay but mainly because she was an addict and he couldn't live with her anymore. If it weren't for her habit they probably would have worked things out. Or so he says now. He has 3 adult children he is very proud of and has no regrets on that front. I have not been around any of them. This was his other life, just as I had mine.

It will be interesting so see how this friendship moves forward. We have already crossed the first hurdle. "We he text me in the morning?" He did. I know that sounds childish and it is.... but can I say. You wonder if people can truly reconnect after so much time has passed. Maybe the obstacle that kept us apart is now in the open and we can be better for it. Whatever the case may be I feel some relief and closure. Or is it a new beginning?

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