Returning Home & Lasting Friendship

There are many things about "returning home" that can erk, disturb, make uncomfortable, etc. Running into people who remember you and can only relate to you as a teenager ranks high on my list of "situations I'd rather avoid." There's also the unfortunate occasion when you find yourself unconsciously regressing into that teenage space because of external stimuli: your parent's house, passing by the street where your first crush lived, etc. Some of these "returning home" experiences foster a sense of gratitude for the development and maturity achieved between "then" and now. And some of them just cause quick-think-about-something-else reactions. But for all the headache of heading home, there's one thing that stands alone as a corrective of regret and producer of thankfulness--a thing that makes you look in the present upon the past with fondness and appreciation. I just got back from having brunch with my friend ABC. We've known each other since Mrs. Brockway's 7th grade history class at El Roble. After sharing stories about what's been up for the last year (or so), we settled into our most familiar and sacred place--laughter. I cannot articulate in words how valuable her friendship is to/for me, how much my reverence for relationships that provoke laughter has grown as I've aged, and what it means to be part of something that lasts and lasts and lasts. Money can't buy everything of value my people. And only love sustains the things of true worth. I hope the seeds of relationship I plant today will become even half as fertile as the ones I planted with Adian back in 1993. (Can you tell from the picture how absolutely ridiculous we were, and therefore why we always had so many things to laugh about??)

That's my Word for today. Thanks be to G-d...Ejoye