17 years later

After finding and reconnecting with Jonathan just a few months ago, I suddenly had the opportunity to see him in person Monday night. He dropped me an email to say that work was bringing him to Northern Virginia for some biz dev and he was flying into Dulles that night. Well, when someone who is normally 800 or so miles away is within 20, of course you go and see them, especially when it's been 17 (!) years. And so it was I found myself in the imaginatively named Lobby Lounge of the Dulles Airport Marriott at 8:30 on Monday night, catching up with Mr. Jonathan Fritz, Cognos software salesman extraordinaire. We had drinks and chocolate pudding in a coffee mug, and traded stories and memories. He recalled some that I didn't, and vice versa.

(I felt bad, because it seemed like he had more memories of times we had visited than I did. In fact, I went down into the basement tonight to dig through my copious Rubbermaid tubs of letters and diaries to see if I could retrieve any. I didn't find the diaries, but I did find some letters from Jonathan, as well as my Duran Duran scrapbook; but that's another story.)

It's strange seeing someone again after so long. I had no effective way to describe it other than to say he looks the same, but different. That is, he is clearly recognizable, but as an adult version of the teenager I knew. With a triathlete's body. (And now I have gotten myself in trouble with Ken, and Jonathan with his wife. :)

The other aspect that's meaningful to me is that I've always tried to maintain any serious friendships I've developed in my life. Human connections, the really good ones, aren't easy to make and so I believe they are worth keeping. Some inevitably drift apart despite your efforts to the contrary. And some disappear, only to be discovered again. I'm glad that I have reconnected this one.