September 1st was my father’s birthday and it was a somber day for me, I wrote about it and I now have to keep looking forward.
Luckily, September 2nd is my friend Bill’s birthday. He and I were both born in 1956, two weeks and a thousand miles apart. So, he’s my brother from another mother. Bill and I have been friends since the day after my birthday in 1972. If you asked him today what we were talking about that day, he could tell you.
Because our birthdays are exactly 2 weeks apart, we used to have a party on September 9th, a co-birthday party. We used to make some rocking brownies.
While we don’t get to see each other as much as I’d like, we can still pick up conversations from months ago as if they had just occurred. We try to go to a Minnesota Gopher’s football (American football) game each year, that won’t be happening this year sadly.
Bill’s father died 20 plus years ago, I was glad I could be there for him. I know that were things different, he would have been here when my father died earlier this year. He could not be here, but he made a point of calling regularly during his illness and in the weeks after his death. It meant a lot to me.
For me, friendships like mine with Bill and a few other people in my life are deep and binding. There’s very little I would not do for these friends. Friendship at this level can be deeply rooted in time but, for some reason, for me, they can just happen. That doesn’t happen often but sometimes you just know. At least I do anyway.
For my friend Bill, Happy Birthday. Maybe, if the Big 10 plays football this winter, I’ll put on my long-johns and we can freeze our butts off at TCF Stadium watching Minnesota beat Ohio State.
I love you Buddy, thank you for your friendship.