Old Friends

When he was in his prime, he was one of the most gifted there was: imaginative, daring and admired by his co-workers. He was one of those guys who thought "outside the box" before the term became fashionable. He and I worked in the same place, although our hours weren't quite the same. We were both young then; bullet-proof. We had a great time and became lifelong friends, as did our wives. After that gig, our jobs took us to other markets. We kept in touch but seldom visited each other. Bob, I'll call him, was more successful than I, but that never mattered.

Tonight, we talked on the phone for nearly an hour, the four of us. My wife and I had recently vacationed in the Northern Rockies and the Mrs. and I loved it. We took pictures and shared details of our trip with friends and colleagues. Bob and his wife decided to vacation there too, at the end of the month.

The more we talked, the more we realized that we had never fulfilled a decades-old promise: to vacation together at a favorite spot. Tonight, we swore that we will do it, by God, next year.

I'm sure this is not a unique tale. Long-separated friends promising to get together some day, and never doing so. It's one of those things that many live to regret. Eventually, either they can no longer travel, or no longer care to travel, or -- worse -- one of them dies.

That happened to me. My high school hero -- a genius, actually, who went on to found and lead a successful software firm -- died unexpectedly before he and I could reconnect in person. It has pained me ever since.

So, here I go a-blogging. It's a new world, they tell me, and one should not miss out on such as this. Nevertheless, the notion of putting one's thoughts to paper -- er, the Web -- is both exciting and scary. Some things I will share with you, but not all. For now, though, it is enough just to start.