MadMup.com

Josh, Dave, and I have been talking about getting together for some time now. We haven't seen each other in a long time and life keeps going, so you've got to make things happen. I'd seen Dave at Christmas, but I hadn't seen Josh in probably four years. Josh lives in Michigan, Dave lives in Ohio, and I live in Indiana, so we looked for a place that was "somewhere in the middle" that we could maybe meet up for lunch some Saturday. The talking never gets past "Yeah, we should do that," but it gets brought up every other month or so. Dave even went so far as to find a place that was "sorta" in the middle. When specific Saturdays were mentioned, though, it was always "I'm on a trip" or "I'm re-roofing the house" or some such nonsense. Josh has five kids, Dave has three, so that made some sort of difference, too, I guess.

This past Thursday, though, Dave said, "I'm free tomorrow night." So was I. And, after a while, so was Josh. So the plan was made: meet at Welch's Ribs in Sturgis, MI, at 7:00 p.m. Friday.

Remember when Dave said it was "sorta" in the middle? That apparently meant "mile-wise." Time-wise their trips were a smidgen over two hours. Mine was three hours. Meh. No big deal, I guess. Dave got there first, I got there a little afterwards, and Josh was late. Slacker.

This is us:

They say that friends are people who know all about you but love you anyway. These are those friends for me. I've been friends with them for 20 years and known them even longer. They've been around me during all of my biggest mistakes and still love me. They've laughed with me, cried with me, preached at me, persuaded me, corrected me, and accepted me. If I haven't talked to one of them in months, I can pick up the phone and we can pick up right where we left off. If I were to start listing memories I have about these two, we'd be here forever and you'd get bored - we'd be in stitches, but you'd be bored.

Everybody should have friends like Josh and Dave. I hope you do. I hope I've been 1/10th the friend to them that they've been to me. Thank you, Aundrea (Mrs. Josh) and Angela (Mrs. Dave), for not only letting them come but actually encouraging them to do so.

We left Welch's a little after 11:00 on Friday after having talked about family, former friends, theology, surgery, movies, and all manner of other things. It was raining and hard to see on my way home, and I didn't get back until 3:00 Saturday morning, dog-tired and feeling physically awful.

But you know what? I'd do it again. I hope we get the chance.

Labels: friends