Roots to Living

Connections.

I know those are important in business, but I've never been very good at business.
Still, I have them. In each of the careers I've had, I have people I am still connected to. Stupid me. They are frequently helpful, but not one because I thought they were, or might be. Simply because I like them, and they like me. Love, in many cases.

Yesterday, I had lunch with two college roommates. One I hadn't seen for 11 years, one for maybe 35 years. We've all lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex all this time....except Brenda and Bill took off to live in Japan for 10 years. And Libby and Jack travel a lot.

Libby made a point of telling me I was important in her college years. And I replied she had been the same. And we both exclaimed, "I don't know how."

We all recognized each other immediately.I recognized Libby from the back, the same thin tall posture, short hair--I was seated and called her name. She turned around.

Then we both watched for Brenda, a vibrant auburn in college and slender. The hair is silver white now, but immediately Brenda. (She's still thin. At a 12-14, I was the fattie at the table) We visited. Brenda was the only one who brought pictures.

We shared college together. We share those memories. We were and are very different people.We have lived very different lives. But we are connected. Memories, for one. Brenda's brother was 13 or 14 the last time I saw him. Now he's 60. Libby's brother-in-law was in his teens when I knew him as a silverfish, happy, energetic teen. She says he still has his humor and energy and is a grandfather. But as different as we were, we clicked. And we stay clicked.

It wasn't an acopolypse. It was indeed a very pleasant lunch, with promise.
Brenda brought her camera, and we asked the women next table to photograph us. They were agreeable, and I added, "We were college roommates and haven't seen each other in years." They got excited. Heck, they were in their 30s-40s. We were living mentors.

We linked waists, and the photographer took two.

I look forward to those.

And I think about connections. We know things about each other from those years that no one else knows, at least in the context of us one on one. I think about the people in my life since, some friends, some enemies, some neutral but still important. We all know things about each other that noone else knows, at least in the concept of one on one.

Each connection is important. And in my life, each has led to something, or someone, else that has been important. Some of the imporant things have seemed like catastrophes at the time, and were, but other connections, other people,later living have proved to be blessings.

There IS a logic to life. AND an order to things. To me, yesterday was an affirmation of that.

Hope I see them both again.