78: Relation

I wrote an apology years ago and sent it to you in Japan, but it came back. We were friends, but I disappointed you by arriving too late to meet in Kepler’s parking lot. Water from the radiator of the car that you had borrowed pooled under the street light and I haven’t heard from you since. When I was young, as we moved from state to state, friendships were temporary and unintentional. Now I have different expectations but similar behaviors. Still, things change beyond our control. I’m sorry. I’ve thought of you a thousand times, and always with regret. What is friendship? A way to explain habit of association, emotional dependence, or joy in recognizing another person is like oneself in spirit in everyday acts and can do as he pleases. Neither the one nor the other but it leaves a hole shallow or deep that’s never filled by anyone else. I would send this to your parents’ address in Belmont. Many things have changed, but I hope that you and your parents are well. I am working as a programmer; I am married; we are paying for our home. Yet some things haven’t changed. Call or drop me a line There’s no emergency, only the perspective of the years since we’ve talked. I’m getting older; that’s enough. I just wanted you to know.

Broken fork