There are some friendships that do not endure the test of time. It's an unfortunate fact. When it comes to my friendship with Shane, I hope this is not the case. I've been racking my brain trying to remember how we met. Was it online? Doubtful. Social media did not exist... There were no social networks or social GPS-proximity-tracking-full-body-scanning iPhone technology to speak of... Just good 'ol AOL. So, it definitely wasn't online or via the Cloud.
And having just gotten out of the shower (I do some of my best work there) I wade through a hazy fog of uncertainty that we met at the stage production of Beautiful Thing. And as cliche as it can be, it was in the queue for the bathroom during intermission. Now, anyone that knows me can testify that I do not go picking people up on the way to or from the men's room, however when I heard Shane talking to his friend... I said hello. Shane is from North Carolina and had the thickest southern accent I had heard since moving to New York. Oh! right - was in 1996 when I was a freshman at NYU.
We instantly hit it off as friends with the south as a common starting point and kept in touch until not so recently. I remember he was visiting New York and wanted to see a show - as you do when in the Big Apple. After that, he went back and for some reason I think he was living in Tennessee at the time. Well, we did keep in touch throughout my college years writing back and forth about our travels. Shane was an MRI technician and his skills took him to various hospitals that required his expertise. Who knew? Anyway, he came to visit me one summer when I was interning in Atlanta and I went to visit him when he was working in Hilo, Hawaii. Random, but fun.
So, the above postcard is from 2005 when I'm assuming that he was living in Pennsylvania at the time, and I had been in Beijing for year. Sadly, I don't know where he is at the moment as the last email from him (yes, because I dropped the ball) was birthday well wishes sent in 2008. I've checked Facebook and Linkedin and other social media sites, but no luck. I've even emailed him, but it seems like he's dropped off the face of the planet or just dropped me. I hope for neither. So, the above is a nice reminder of a friendship that I wish doesn't fall prey to time. Shane, my friend, wherever you are. Thank you, I got your postcard.
Get there!
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