Reconstruction

"Hey, do you remember my Laura Palmer halloween costume? The one where I put on a flesh toned bodysuit, made my hair all big, made my face an ashy gray and wrapped myself in a clear plastic tarp?"
"YES! That was the best costume ever. And Joel came as what's his name...Kyle MacLachlan...Agent Cooper! But all he did was slick his hair back, because he already wore a barn jacket. Such a cop out, and he thought it was so great."

At this moment I am entirely content. I'm at Nemoid's, and I just got back from brunch and a long catch-up session.

I'm rarely at a loss for words, but as I try to figure this out right now, I can't explain the depth of how this encounter has affected me today--all positive.

It's been fabulous to see Crush again, and I am just extremely happy and at ease. He lived part of my life with me that I'd not revisited since it happened, and the feeling of shared history is one that I'm beginning to value more and more.

"And what about that time we sat outside my dorm and we just kept talking until the sun came up?"
"I don't remember that, specifically, but I do remember one time when you had a big linguistics project and we were both in the Tunnel until all hours while you transcribed."
"That's the same time! That's what I had been doing down there!"

I'm trying my best to live in this moment, this glorious moment, but my mind keeps jumping ahead to when this mini-vacation will be over, and I'll be back in the rut. I need to both rekindle and forge new relationships that will sustain me like this one has. It seems like such a small thing, but the worth of it is immeasurable.

"Hey, do you remember when I sat on Tip O'Neill's lap?"
"Of course I do. I took the picture!"
"Do you still have it???!!!"
"No...it was for the newspaper, so I never really had it, per se. Do you remember his speech, though? The font was so large it was, like, one sentence per page."
"You actually got his speech?"
"Yeah, he was so funny. He finished it up, and turned to us and said 'Want this?'"
"That's awesome."

We reminisced, and we caught up, and we had some glorious conversation about hopes, dreams, and many fears. We share a lot, I think, and there's also a wide enough gap in our experiences and where we are that it would be folly to consider more than friendship. I sense that this friendship renewal is going to be fabulous for us both, if we can keep up contact reliably.

I'm just so happy. I'm with friends, I've reconnected with a very old friend, and I'm about to go to one of the other places that makes me happiest to see other friends.

Does it get better than this?