Then That Happened

Earlier I'd been composing a blog entry in my head...another pet peevery entry to add to the growing list.

Frankly, I've been irritable and annoyed for the last two days and the burn to get a load off my already weighty chest was overwhelming.

To say I was fired up...that'd be an understatement.

By the time I got home this afternoon, I was a little bundle of putridity the likes of which I'd not been in quite awhile. Needless to say, I was not anxious to be around people of any variety.

Except...I had plans for the evening. Dammit.

Enter Brad.

Have I told you about Brad? I don't believe I have...at least not more than just in passing.

Brad is my oldest friend in the world. Oldest in that I've known him for nearly 30 years now - I was 10 when we first met - and oldest friend in that, while I've not known him the absolute longest of say all my friends on Facebook¹, he's the one I talk to regularly.

I have more memories of Brad than I do of anyone else in my life. 30 years is a long time, y'all. Some of those memories are sad but now softened with age and the wisdom that comes with it. Mostly though, they are of a quiet kind of joy and peacefulness that comes with singing Comfortably Numb in harmony on top of Casper Mountain...a lot.

In a strange twist of events, Brad and I, all these years later, live literally on the same street just a few blocks away from each other. A different city, different lives, different lovers...and yet still connected - he's one of the greatest loves of my life.

So this evening, even in my putritude, I went off to try to enjoy an evening with my oldest friends. Within minutes, I was relaxed and happy. We sang songs along with the player piano, drank tea and then wine, ate grilled cheese, played canasta², and talked and hugged and laughed and loved each other.

And now I've got no venomous blog entry to write.

Not tonight anyway.

There's always tomorrow.

So thank you, Brad. I love you, Baby.


^{Brad and I circa 1990}


1: That distinction goes to the cute little redheaded boy Andrew who I've known since we were 4.

2: One of these days, Brad, I will beat you. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon.