Last night I hung out with an old friend, my oldest friend.  I think I was two and he was three when we started playing together.   His family lived next door to my mother’s college roommate.   My mother’s roommate lived in a small, inaccessible (back then) beach town, and hooked my parents up with a dirt cheap rental down the street.  For years my family spent two hot, sandy, happy weeks at the beach, and one of the best parts for me was getting to see my buddy David.

When we were teenagers, we decided to start writing letters to each other.   David’s aunt lived near me, so once he learned to drive, he would come up, often with a friend or two in tow, to visit his aunt and to see me.   My senior year I had a car, so I would drive to visit him at State.  When my parents retired to the beach, I already had a group of friends in the area, thanks to my buddy David.

For a while, we both lived in the center of the state, about two hours away from our parents, and I got to see my friend on a regular basis.  But stuff happens, and I moved back to the area where I had grown up, for work.  There is a lot I miss about where I used to live, particularly my buddy David.

We both work in schools.  I texted him to see when his spring break was, and if he had any plans to visit his mom and dad.  His spring break is also this week and he decided to come down yesterday.  We went out to dinner with our parents and then went gallivanting afterwards.  That is just what I do with my buddy David.

We started at the local homemade ice cream shop.  Next we sat at the bar of a Mexican chain restaurant next door, nursing our prickly pear margaritas.  Then, even though I had consumed enough calories for the week that evening, I suggested we drive across town to get a Krispy Kreme donut.  As fate would have it, the Hot Light was on.  We sat in the booth and talked about our lives, and the frightening fact that many adults aren’t that good a being adults.  I lost track of time, like I often do when I hang out wth my buddy David.

I got home before midnight, but unlike Ciderella, I had to write and submit a slice before 11:59.  I tried to write about my friend and our friendship over the years.  The clock I was looking at was slow, and I didn’t leave my link until 11:59: one minute too late.   The second to last slice, and I missed the deadline by a minute.  I was angry at myself, but I’ll have to accept that I mostly completed the challenge, and it was worth being a minute late, to eat junk and laugh too loud and talk about terrible things and lose track of time and just catch up with my oldest friend, my buddy David.