Hmmm, completely unrelated to yesterday's rant and unintended was the fact that my cd rotation included the soundtrack to Life of Brian. Why does this strike me funny? Well, towards the end of the CD they have Brian's mom talking to him and she says, "Well if that's how you treat your poor old mother in the autumn years of her life, all I can say is, 'Go ahead. Be crucified. See if I care.'" Some will see the irony, others will just say I'm weird. Anyway, hockey went poorly yesterday. Lalime's streak of 2 or less goals in the playoffs was broken by a four goal game effort from the Devils. Hopefully Ottawa can rebound and break New Jersey's unbeaten streak on home ice in the playoffs. On the upside the Ducks play tonight and hopefully will go up 3-0.
I ran into a guy I graduated high school with on the street while I was wandering around at lunch. This guy was one of my best friends in high school, but had some major problems upon graduation. Now both of his adopted parents are dead and his wife/girlfriend just had a baby. There were five of us in high school spanning three grades that hung out regularly. Other friends floated in and out of the group and at one point around 91 after we had all seen the miniseries IT, we ended up likening ourselves to the "Loser's Club" And, we were pretty damn close, though in a high school as small as ours everyone knows everyone else and social circles are redrawn hourly if not more often. However, back to the actual story and gratuitous references to Stephen King. This guy was one of those that you would do anything for, and it was reciprocated. Now, how many of those 5 do I keep in close contact with 10 years out of high school...one. The other three (me being one of the 5) have just faded themselves into the background and it's a mutual thing, no one has time, no effort is made from either side, etc. There are days when that makes me sad. I wish I had the time and money to keep up with everyone that I was friends with at one point. For now, I have to be content to pass information around through different gossip channels and maybe catch up at the reunion. Although the two that were in my grade aren't really the reunion type. Why am I telling you all of this? Actually, do I even know who you are? No, I'm just releasing thoughts that have bounced around in my head for several years through all of the problems that this guy has been through. Alcoholism, death, stealing, jail(?) and lying to everyone at one point or another. It's very painful at the age of 21 or 22 to break ties with a guy you've known since you were 6. That's like divorcing your brother or your parents. Time may heal all wounds, but no one ever says how much time. When I saw his nephew (don't ask, it's a much longer and convoluted story than I care to get into here) at the reunion planning meetings I asked about him. The same pain was evident in his eyes that I can feel in mine. He said something that pretty much summed everything up for me. "That boy was given every opportunity and screwed it up. I don't understand it. It makes me so mad, but if he walked in here right now, I'd probably give him everything in my wallet." I echoed his sentiments and that's what made me think. He invited me to see the baby and it's only right down the street, probably less than 10 blocks away. I'm torn. I want to go, almost feel compelled to go, but can I afford to open myself up for that kind of hurt again?