Divermarv

One day, you’re 17 and you’re planning for someday. And then quietly, without you ever really noticing, someday is today. And then someday is yesterday. And this is your life.” – John Green

“I need a name for this ink … A name for the feeling you get when you see someone again. After many years. Someone lost to you. Or so you thought. And you remember them a certain way. In your mind, they never age. But then suddenly, there they are. Older. Changed by time. Different, but exactly the same.” – Jennifer Donnelly, Stepsister

“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.” – Albert Einstein

Friday March twenty-seventh was a day. And not just a day that ends in ‘y’. It was a day that bounded out of time. Uncle Al said that time is relative. He demonstrated that it’s personal (in a way). And I can assure you that a scientific phenomenon occurred on that infamous Friday, and not just to me. Three individuals traveled through time and came out not only unscathed, but (I think) better for it.

[Queue the suspenseful music] This momentous occasion happened in a Cracker Barrel of all places. The three fellas met in the parking lot hugged and entered and were sat. Just a look and thirty-eight years melted into pudding. The three men transported through time and space were suddenly camping in Idaho, preparing to climb a mountain. Meeting strange characters [enter stage left: Cannon-ball Lady]. The vitality of youth coursed through them as the thirty-eight years were compressed into a mere moment. The results were genuine. Smiles spread across their faces. [Dramatic musical score, roll credits]

Of course you have probably guessed what this actually was. Three former Navy buddies got together and reminisced. It had been that aforementioned number of years since they’d seen each other, but those years (synopsized to each other as a greeting) gave way to the memories of their brief but life-altering time together. In Idaho. (The Navy? In Idaho?! Yep. I’ll explain sometime.)

As we reminisced, we noticed the oddities of memories. Little snatches of phrasing like, “I thought so-and-so was there”, “Wait, I don’t remember that/it like that”, and the perplexing, “I have no recollection of that at all”. But the memories did return. The camaraderie returned as well. The love that only old friends can have, a love that has lasted all those years. (I’ll refrain from using similes such as: freeze-dried, salted, preserved in amber. Those would just be crass.)

It was a moment in time that will be remembered. And remembered correctly this time, as one of the men mentioned in a follow-up text. It was a moment that, I believe, will reconvene adventures (sans Cannonball Lady of course). Or… shall I just say… Idaho Camping Trip anyone?!

As always,

Peace and love.

Marv