Two days ago was my friend’s birthday. Thoughts of him wove throughout my day as he celebrated in the Colorado mountains and I on the Oregon coast.
I’ve written about him before and though I can be generally verbose, my feelings toward and about him are so tender, precious, and unique, that I find myself quietly appreciating him, deliberate in the words I choose.
We met shortly after I moved to Portland on a day powerful and auspicious for many reasons. We sat face-to-face just hours after the lunar eclipse, and my spirit and being were literally pulsing as I sat across from him, sipping a stout and eating a salad. Between his unabashed eye contact and curiosity and willingness to connect, human-to-human, I was and continue to be delighted. What fortune! This incredible person wants to know me! And is letting me know him! The care with which he approaches his life, his relations, his dreams and the dreams of others - I am astounded. I am grateful.
He knows me. He sees me. Isn’t that what so many people want - to be seen? It’s what I want, anyway, and the active recognition, acknowledgment, questioning, and candor are aspects of our friendship I hold dear. When I go to those places of self-doubt, he sends me email reminders of how he sees me. And inevitably I cry and shake my head in disbelief at the blessing he is in my life. We are real with each other, and though at times our feedback may be unsolicited, it’s understood that it’s given with love, and accepted as such.
In my 32 years, I don’t know that I’ve ever had a friendship like this. He’s my best friend, and as I more fully understand what friendship can mean, he consistently shines as an example of someone who watches, listens, feels, and reflects traits I honor and admire.
C, I am incredibly glad you were born.
Posted in Knowings, Xplorin' NW, blessed life, self-ref(s)