sentimental heaviness pricks your eyes
yesterday, I was planning the details of a business trip to be north of toronto for two days near the end of the month. as I was doing the planning, it occurred to me that the last known whereabouts of my oldest friend were in toronto. I hadn't seen him in thirteen years, and I wondered if he was still there and whether I could find him.
daryl and I grew up in saudi arabia together, just a few minutes walk away from the persian gulf. our parents worked for aramco, the national oil company there, and we met in preschool. for years after we were best friends, swimming in the gulf, camping in the desert, riding bmx bikes and coveting his older brother's vans shoes. his family left to return to canada in the middle of 4th grade, and as a young kid with a penchant for melodrama I presumed I would never see him again. my family moved back to the U.S. right before I entered 5th grade, and we moved to marysville, michigan, which is right across the border from sarnia, ontario. by an amazing coincidence, daryl's family had moved to sarnia. sheer luck. though the border crossings were arduous, we managed to stay good friends through early high school. at that point, he'd gone off to boarding school for high school (curiously called "college" in canada) and the last time we saw each other was in the fall of 1993. I only remember the date because I had just turned 16 and had my license, so we borrowed his mom's honda and drove around sarnia, buying fast food, going to the mall and feeling the freedom of two teenagers with an automobile.
after that, we completely lost touch. he was away at school and his parents moved to indonesia. his mom and my mom wrote letters to each other, and I would occasionally hear about how his life was turning out. about four years ago I decided to track him down via google. I found an email address that looked promising and sent an email into the dark void of the internet. amazingly (sheer luck), it was his address, and we exchanged an email updating each other on our lives. he told me that he'd gone to the university of victoria, was a rowing coach, majored in economics, met a girl. at the time they were planning to move to toronto. but after that initial letter we lost touch again. were we just too far removed from each other? it had been 9 years since we'd been awkward teenagers driving around in his mother's car.
the oldest message in my oldest email account (the account you keep around solely for its archival value) was the one email he'd sent me. I replied to that email, once again into the black void dear friends, only half-hoping for a reply. In it, I mentioned that I'd be near toronto and if he was still there I'd love to meet him for dinner or a beer. amazingly (sheer luck), he replied back yesterday. he and his wife live in downtown toronto and he said the plan sounded great. he gave me his number and said he'd try to call.
driving home yesterday, on my way to meet katie for my birthday dinner, I got a phone call from him. I didn't recognize his voice at all, but there was genuine excitement and warmth in his voice. 13 years later, he wished me a happy birthday. it was one of the best presents I've ever received.
daryl and I grew up in saudi arabia together, just a few minutes walk away from the persian gulf. our parents worked for aramco, the national oil company there, and we met in preschool. for years after we were best friends, swimming in the gulf, camping in the desert, riding bmx bikes and coveting his older brother's vans shoes. his family left to return to canada in the middle of 4th grade, and as a young kid with a penchant for melodrama I presumed I would never see him again. my family moved back to the U.S. right before I entered 5th grade, and we moved to marysville, michigan, which is right across the border from sarnia, ontario. by an amazing coincidence, daryl's family had moved to sarnia. sheer luck. though the border crossings were arduous, we managed to stay good friends through early high school. at that point, he'd gone off to boarding school for high school (curiously called "college" in canada) and the last time we saw each other was in the fall of 1993. I only remember the date because I had just turned 16 and had my license, so we borrowed his mom's honda and drove around sarnia, buying fast food, going to the mall and feeling the freedom of two teenagers with an automobile.
after that, we completely lost touch. he was away at school and his parents moved to indonesia. his mom and my mom wrote letters to each other, and I would occasionally hear about how his life was turning out. about four years ago I decided to track him down via google. I found an email address that looked promising and sent an email into the dark void of the internet. amazingly (sheer luck), it was his address, and we exchanged an email updating each other on our lives. he told me that he'd gone to the university of victoria, was a rowing coach, majored in economics, met a girl. at the time they were planning to move to toronto. but after that initial letter we lost touch again. were we just too far removed from each other? it had been 9 years since we'd been awkward teenagers driving around in his mother's car.
the oldest message in my oldest email account (the account you keep around solely for its archival value) was the one email he'd sent me. I replied to that email, once again into the black void dear friends, only half-hoping for a reply. In it, I mentioned that I'd be near toronto and if he was still there I'd love to meet him for dinner or a beer. amazingly (sheer luck), he replied back yesterday. he and his wife live in downtown toronto and he said the plan sounded great. he gave me his number and said he'd try to call.
driving home yesterday, on my way to meet katie for my birthday dinner, I got a phone call from him. I didn't recognize his voice at all, but there was genuine excitement and warmth in his voice. 13 years later, he wished me a happy birthday. it was one of the best presents I've ever received.
random bits cobbled together by j-dub
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