Three nights ago, I met with two friends from the old days in Brooklyn. I knew each of them when I was 15 years old and we were all “blood brothers” as kids. Throughout college and beyond, we periodically touched base, but invariably lost touch with each other for years at a time. There were marriages, divorces, business pressures, and the thousands of ups and downs that go on in life. By the time we got together at a restaurant three nights ago, I hadn’t seen Don for ten years and had last seen Hal twenty years ago. It had been a long, long time.
We spent the first 45 minutes “catching up” although Don and Hal had stayed in touch pretty regularly over the years. It was strange: they both looked the same but of course, we were all older versions of our earlier selves.
What struck me most was that after the first 45 minutes, we were talking and laughing about all sorts of things: our experiences, recent events in our lives, our wives, kids, work, movies, and a bunch of other things. At times, even the old Brooklyn lingo seemed to return as we talked, joked and laughed. We barely mentioned our early days together; that was past us and we were there, in the moment–together. It struck me that we all felt completely comfortable, not only in our own skins, but with each other.
It seemed we hadn’t missed a beat. We picked right up as though we were still friends who got together very often . It was as though the ten or twenty intervening years hadn’t interrupted a thing. Those decades evaporated right there at the dinner table. We just talked and laughed and had a great time. I know we’ll get together again, some time soon.
We were just old friends out together for an evening. So it boils down to something simple: true friendship is truly timeless.
Mark Rubinstein
Author, Mad Dog House
