OF FINDING HOPE IN A GOOD LUCK BAMBOO

Of course we are not the people we thought we would be. Either we set the bar too high in our naivety or the world has corrupted us. Or maybe we had it all underneath waiting to be scratched.
So here we are. Thwarted dreams. Beautiful surprises. Broken Promises. Unveiled talents. Poor judgement and down right stupidity. New opportunities. New friends: seasonal and permanent. New chapters. New stories.
How did we get like this? When did we get like this? Never calling each other for days even though we had promised to. Stashing away the scrabble board into the dusty closet and forgetting the Wednesday game night that was a ritual that we lived for. Promising each other ice cream and coffee dates that have never happened and instead sending each other bottles of Guinness on Face book. You don’t even know what Guinness tastes like!…Or do you now?
Today, I am not going to hesitate to call you and instead ask myself, “What shall we talk about?” I won’t even mask the loneliness behind the you-threw-me-out-texts. I am going to call and I will tell you about those failed relationships I have had and the amazing man that I have found after all the mistakes. I will tell you about the one night stand that I almost had. I will tell you about the job that excited me and yet almost killed my dreams. I will tell you about my confusion right now and surprisingly the ways that have found who I truly am. I might cry while I’m at it but I am going to call you today and ask that we meet.
And hey, I will listen. To the success story at University. To you berating yourself for not being what you know you should be. To the story of how you got deflowered even though we signed those yellow “True Love Waits” cards together. I will listen.
I will call you today because I know you have never judged me. Of course I might chasten you at some point-and I know you will too but I will tell you my story because you know me and won’t judge me.
Remind me to tell you about the brother whose childhood I did not share but who has brought me happiness since he became a part of my life.
I will remind you of the prayers we made and show you how God has answered each one of them in ways that we never imagined.
And I will ask again that you become my good luck bamboo. The one that I will water everyday and put out in the sun instead of the forgotten backyard garden that I had let you become. Today, I am not going to hesitate to call you and ask that we meet.
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 “Friendships are like backyard gardens. We plan to tend to them but always push them to next week.” -Boston Legal