Monday, May 19, 2014

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times...

Yup, sounds like a line from "A Tale of Two Cities" doesn't it. (Ok, so it IS a line from AToTC.)  However, this pertains to a point in my life which was filled with endings and new beginnings, and new experiences.  This was the fall of 1990.  A relationship that I thought was on good ground had come to an abrupt end the summer before, and I was still reeling from the shock of it all. The group of mutual friends we had was somewhat divided, as there were those that were closer to me, and those that were closer to her, and those who maintained full neutrality throughout the whole ordeal. While it is true that the relationship was over, there were still periods where we would go away from everything alone just to talk. I had thought at the time that perhaps there was some hope in repairing the relationship, but I was wrong.  We still talked, and that was what was important- what happened to end that, however, still remains a mystery to me.  A few events stand out in my mind that I will cherish forever.  I remember one Friday evening in the campus computer center where she and I, along with two other friends (they were more friend to me, than to her, but still they didn't mind that she was there) were working on our homework on the computer mainframe system, when one of the professors from the math department came online and, out of the blue, invited the four of us to his place in the next town over to share some homemade corned beef and cabbage. Since most of us had skipped dinner that night, we were all hungry and agreed to go along. We all hopped into his truck when Dr. Lane arrived and had a wonderful evening, just talking, drinking beer, and listening to his stories about New England, where he was from, completely forgetting about the promised meal until well after midnight (it was around 3am, I believe). By then, the meat, which had been slow cooking for all those hours, was nice and tender, as was the cabbage.
 We all had our fill, and at around 4:30am, we all piled into Dr. Lane's truck for the ride home. Since he had had a few too many drinks, he took the back roads back to the boro, at about 20 miles/hour. She and I were in the back of the truck, and spent the entire trip back to campus talking and just looking at the stars. I don't think that they had ever been as clear as they seemed that night, but then again, it may have had something to do with the 4-5 beers I had in me. There were a few other special moments like this before the rift widened to the point where we were almost complete strangers.  I still think about that night often, when I'm alone with the stars, and wonder where it all went.  I still cherish those moments, and wonder if she still does deep down as well.  Someday, I hope, that rift will be bridged enough so that we can repair the friendship part of that relationship.  Only time will tell.

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