Reunited

The last few days have seen the beginning of a pretty relaxing spring break.  They have also seen some much needed time with good friends.  One of my good friends from Teach for America, Joey, was in town this weekend visiting from grad school.  We hadn’t seen him since July, and, needless to say, lots of things have changed since then (see here).  But I think that was one of the coolest things about the visit…that despite the fact that almost everything is completely different now, the friendship hadn’t changed at all. 

Wes and Joey are particularly close, but I had never gotten to witness the intricacies of their friendship before.  All that changed this weekend.  I felt like I was getting to witness something especially rare.  I have had many friends in my lifetime, but I’ve never been the best pen pal so to speak.  So getting to see two people who have been separated for the last seven months by thousands of miles act like no time has passed and no distance could separate them, well, I found it inspiring. 

On Joey’s last night in town, we got together with a bunch of people who spent our two years of Teach for America with us.  We spent hours sitting together just talking in a gastropub in Riverside.  As the night got later, a little two-man band showed up and started playing the most perfect of soundtracks for the evening.  All it took was a guitar and a violin and none of us wanted to leave.  The last song we heard them play that night was “Ho Hey” by the Lumineers.  The people sitting in the restaurant started chiming in with the “hos” and the “heys” and it was like, for just a moment, time slowed down for us.  Every now and then in life, you get those moments that feel like a scene from a movie.  So perfect, yet so unbelievably unscripted, that you feel like you're watching it from the outside.  But then you realize you’re lucky enough to get to be in it, to actually be the star of this perfect scene of your life.  And your co-stars, well they’re pretty incredible, too.