A Lifetime's Not Too Long...

Recently, my buddy John (who is often mentioned here) lost his father. He was in declining health, so it wasn't entirely unexpected; but it was sad as such as loss would be. Because they moved here from Indiana, the actual funeral was there a few weeks ago. Today, John held a small memorial here in OKC where they spent the next big chapter in their lives before moving to Texas. As much as John and I used to run around in our younger days, you would think I would have known his dad better; but I really didn't. He was fairly quiet, left John to do his goofing off, and I think I only talked to him twice. But, I do have a couple of funny memories of him that I shared with John and will go ahead and share here too:

• This one really belongs more to Christina than me. John used to call our answering machines and leave L-O-N-G rambling messages in an attempt to fill up those tiny cassette tapes that machines in the late '80's used. He actually didn't do this too often at Chris' house because he was (wisely) afraid of her dad. He did it frequently to me and my roommate Shannon because we were in college. One night, Chris and I decided enough was enough, and we decided to do it to him. So, we called him while watching Star Trek: TNG. (Not sure why John wasn't with us, but I strongly suspect it involved either a TP'ing adventure OR some giggly 13 year-old girls. He never did anything bad or inappropriate, he just encouraged their obnoxious attention.) Anyway, Chris had the phone and as she was rambling on about the plot of TNG, the Robin Hood movie, and whatever else we could think up to fill that tape; John's dad picked up the phone and in his thick German accent said "Yak! Yak! Yak!" Needless to say, Chris hung up immediately.
• The other incident happened when I first came home from Italy. John had recently moved from Del City to Edmond. He wanted an authentic Italian dinner, so I cooked him one complete with homemade bread. (Yes, I'm laughing at myself for that one.) One of the many movie releases I completely missed while overseas was Star Trek: Generations, so after we ate, we went into John's room to watch it. I was such the recently returned missionary at the time, that I felt weird for the first hour or so even sitting on the bed with John who is probably the most platonic male friend I have ever had. (The fact that my age matched his AND my bra cup did not runneth over pretty much guaranteed that things would always stay that way. Well, that and the fact that I had once seriously dated his best friend.) After that, I got over it because the floor was uncomfortable and...well...it was John. (Sorry John, you know I love you.) About ten minutes after I moved, the oven timer went off. John looked puzzled and went into the kitchen to turn it off. Five minutes later, it happened again. This time, John looked annoyed. About 15 minutes later, John heard something, threw his door open, and yelled "Father!" just as Mr. H went running, giggling from the kitchen where he had set the timer yet again. I always knew John came by his sense of humor legitimately and we had another good laugh about that one today. (Hey! At least he didn't come running into John's room because he thought he heard a bear...)

Because the funeral had already passed, and John has had some time to adjust; today was very pleasant given the circumstances. As some of you may remember, there was a very cheesy Michael W. Smith song on the 80's that most of us were forced to sing and/or listen to at our high school graduation and mine was no exception. It's stuck with me for so long, that it's the label I use here any time I post a flashback about my teenaged misadventures-most of which happened with John, Kyle, Chris, or Wendy. That would be, of course, that classic "Friends are Friends Forever." And yet, as cheesy as that song is, it really has a lot of truth to it. Since you read about these people all the time, here we are-a little older and (I hope) wiser now:

John and I-yes, I'm getting huge. You can tell John's a dad himself now. When I was pregnant with Natalie, he wouldn't get anywhere near me.

Me, Wendy, Kyle (aka "Fergie"), John, Ralph, and Chris at the front and center (where else would she be?)

I could post similar group shots dating back as far as the late 80's, but that would involve a search and a scanner, so I'll stick with these tonight and just say that friends really can be friends forever. Amen.