Some days it’s a struggle to write this blog–trying to write something every day that is fresh and interesting poses a significant challenge, particularly when Thalia (the Muse of comedy and light verse) or Melpomene (the Muse of tragedy) fail to show up. Sometimes I get lucky: like when my daughter Michal asks if she can guest blog, and when my brother Alan and my sister Sandy volunteered out of the blue. Most of the time it’s just me, with my thoughts swirling and my blinking cursor winking balefully against a dauntingly blank screen. Tonight my task is easy and the object of my gratitude is clear: I am so incredibly grateful for my friend Roland. He is visiting the DC area and so I was able to see and have dinner with him this evening (which is why this blog is two hours later than I usually post it.
Roland was the subject of the very first lesson in gratitude, written on 30 June, 2011, and I have mentioned him many times in the past two years. Tonight we had dinner and spent time talking about what’s happening in each of our lives. It was relaxing and fun, and nice to have a sounding board who could listen to my thoughts and questions and offer suggestions, ideas, and questions of his own. Visiting with him in person reminded me about how solitary my life here sometimes is. I come home from work every evening, walk the dog, have dinner with Diane (Sawyer, of ABC news) or sometimes with Brian if I get home late and am eating dinner at 7. Then I putter around for a few minutes, set up my coffee to brew the next morning, go back to my room, write and post my blog, doodle around on Facebook for a while, before my evening ablutions and then bed time. Lather, rinse and repeat; that is, it’s the same routine every week day. So for this evening, it was good to actually be out with my friend, live and in person.
Here is what I said about him in a blog post last December.
I am grateful tonight for the persistence of friends who insist on keeping in touch even when I would lose track. My friend Roland never ceases to check in with me to catch up on what I’ve been up to and fill me in on his doings. I first met him through work and we became fast friends. He is one of those people it is nearly impossible not to like right off the bat; a warm, engaging personality, a beautiful smile, and fun, effervescent energy. When I got laid off from work, he was one of the first people to be in touch with me, inviting me to lunch and listening sympathetically as I talked about the ills that had befallen me. During the “series of unfortunate events” in my life in 2011, he was a constant source of friendship and support. And even if we didn’t see each other more than once or twice per month we made those times count. We mostly met for lunch and not once in any of the times we met did he allow me to pay for my own lunch. I still owe him many lunches and I look forward to someday making at least a few of them up to him.
Right before I moved across the country to Maryland,Roland was one of the last people I saw (the very last was my friend Mary and her family who hosted a small gathering for dinner at her house the night before I drove out of California.) I spoke to him once on the phone since I’ve lived here and he promised that we’d catch up around the holidays. Today he made good on that promise as we visited via Skype video chat. In our nearly 90-minute conversation we were able to catch up on a lot of news and gossip. It was almost as good as sitting across the table from him at lunch, except I missed getting the warm hug and kiss with which he always greets me. Perhaps sometime in 2013 I’ll be able to collect my hug.
Roland continues to be a wonderful friend. The beauty of the friendship I have with him is that we are able to continue as if we still worked in the same building or lived in the same vicinity. Through the wonders of technology we are able to video chat, meaning that I get to see his smiling face as well as hear his smiling voice. But nothing quite compares to having him here in the flesh. Having the opportunity to spend time with him in person for the first time in nearly a year has been a boon to my spirits. For his presence, beautiful spirit, his warm smile, and his loving friendship, I am most exceedingly grateful.
