Ties that Bind

When you consider your friendships could you not claim that there are some that make no sense at all while concurrently making perfect sense? For instance, what in the world does a 20 year old manchild and a 60+ year old woman have in common, much less to talk about? Whether outsiders understand or not, such are the situations in apparently more and more relationships that I speak to people about and so much the better, amen. Cross generational and cross-sectional bonds make for greater understanding, less conflict, and in general a more congealed society. My guess is that while reading this, a 'strange' friendship of your own has taken the foreground but alas, since this is my blog, you'll have to keep mum and see what similarities we may share with those strange persons that influence our lives.

I met H on a message board dedicated to our mutually shared disease. Naturally, people with rare conditions feel somewhat connected as only a fellow sufferer can actually *know* what you're going through. Don't be fooled though, there are a number of jackasses with this shared horror and some that I wish would be cured just so they'd go away! Miss H had a great pseudonym, and lively dialogue. I could recognize immediately her strong opinions with detailed support thereof so the imp in me just had to see how convicted she was. Tit for tat we bandied about subjects in view of the whole message board but were respectful of each other, particularly with disagreements. Some time later the one or two bad seeds had pissed Miss H off to the point where she no longer cared to be a part of the community. Ruh roh. Being one of the few posters whose themes and righteous indignations I came to rely on suddenly vanished. Luckily, I tracked her down in the private messages we're able to send and then finally to actual, personal email.

That was a hearty 3 years ago! I think barely a week has gone by where we have not talked about something, nothing, or everything in-between. I have only a vague idea of what she looks like and am positively clueless about body language and facial gestures. But ask me what makes her tick or how she's likely to react to world events and I can give a detailed, accurate account in most any scenario. Isn't part of being a friend knowing that person from the inside and enjoying what you see? Sometimes I lament the 1,000 miles between us although the relationship would, by necessity, change with proximity and I cherish this friendship exactly how it is. Plus, any time as a youngster I thought I could make the radio, or fish tank filter, or remote control car work better by disassembling it seldom worked out that way. After all, she could be chronic nose picker, have long black ear hair or any other number of issues too frightening to speculate on. Not surprisingly none of that would matter one iota. I respect her mind, am occasionally awed by her heart, and am fortunate beyond my worth to proudly call you "friend" Heather.


P.S. Even though she hates smiley faces I'm confident with this giant one here (an accumulation of the times throughout the years when I wanted to put one in correspondence but didn't) there's a 'get out of jail free' card just waiting for me!