Fuzzy Bus

I was able to visit my good friend John last summer at his small studio apartment in San Francisco. The trip was absolutely amazing and it had been over five years since I had seen him. We were extremely close years ago when we were studying together in Flagstaff, Arizona. At the time we had the same group of friends and he and I even worked together at the same local café for two years. Much of our time there was spent by each other’s side and some people even considered us to be inseparable. Other’s thought we were destined to be together and were continually anticipating a wedding announcement. That could not have been any further from the mark however, as John and I, although opposite genders and extraordinarily close we were never more than platonic friends, which I’m more than certain is the way that both of us wanted it. In fact, I think I can safely say that neither of us ever had any romantic interest in the other.

So, the natural question is how did five years pass without two friends of such an allegedly close relationship making any effort to see each other. Ah, there’s the rub, there were efforts made and some initial plans were attempted, but as everyone should also know, life easily positions itself directly in the path of plans like that. And particularly after college, the freedom of youth vanishes into thin air.

Last summer though, the stars were perfectly aligned and John was free for a full week and I was able to make the flight. He invited me to stay with him in his studio, but I was going to be there for a full week and didn’t want to crowd him. I made reservations for a modest, yet comfortable room in one of San Francisco’s hotels. John and I had an amazing time the entire week. We took an two hour Bay cruise, which included a fabulous lunch and incredible views. We also saw a play at the Golden Gate Theatre and took a tour of the Berkeley campus, which had been the reason John moved there in the first place. He received his graduate degree from Berkeley and stayed there after he graduated. One thing is certain, well a few are, but whatever happens John and I will not wait five more years to see each other.