Today was the day I met up with lost friends. The last time we'd seen each other was 1991 in Germany. When I say old friends, I mean not just in years, but in time and shared experiences.
We'd shared silly and sad times in Germany, Florida, DC, Boston, Colorado. Moves made us lose contact. Attempts to find them were hampered by their common name and lack of a computer.
They found me right before they left on a world cruise with a planned stop in Nice. No way was I not going down to meet them.
I was awake with excitement from the middle of the night and we were out to catch the train to Villefranche arriving well before the scheduled time of deboarding. Good thing.
Their ship had docked in Nice. A taxi driver flew us thru the streets. We were there a little before 10 our designated meet-up time.
The guard who couldn't let us thru to the ship checked to see if we had the right ship.
We did.
A woman than asked us if were meeting a couple and said a couple was looking for us.
And there they were. She's still beautiful. He's a little heavier with gray not brown hair. I'm a little heavier too.
The time in the coffee shop and over lunch was far too short, but we were able to bring forth memories and catch up on our lives. Rick fit as he does with all my friends.
We walked them back to the boat.
I stared after them until they disappeared.
Rick and I decided to take a historic tour of the city. On the first pass near the port, the ship was pulling out.
On the second pass, it was a dot on the horizon creating both sadness at the shortness of the time and joy at the time we shared...a hugathon as Gary described it.
It was just that not just with arms but with spirits.
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