Things, in life and space, have a way of surprising me.

I got a e-mail from someone with whom I've been both friend and enemy, brother and stranger. We started out good, then were great, only to become very bad-together. Now were are two grown men. Two people who know the other in ways most people do not and yet still retain the sense of distance. When we talk it becomes this Tarentino-esk dialog were we say what we mean but never ask what we want.

It's akin to the excitement of seeing someone from your childhood, only to segue into the uncomfort of having to talk to them at lenght.

What should I say? How should I act? Why am I worried about this interaction? Those are just some of the questions I go through when we meet, which is not often. I retain this understanding of him that I know to be both entirely correct and mostly out of date. It can be stressful in a way that's hard to explain.

But this e-mail was gift. A precious window into how he now ticks. A bit of looking back to explain what's ahead, for him and for me, and why things are as they...are. He is a talented writer who aims high and often hits the mark (though sometimes bouncing off a few targets to get there). I found his letter, to us select few, to be easy to absorb and long to process.

I am grateful.


_{Still somewhat tentative, but grateful.}

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