Paddling upstream in a canoe, with a high school friend
reviewing our lives with each other -
being both old friends and strangers at the same time
because of the long spaces where we lose touch.
Connected over the years by the shared experiences of our youth.
Good times, yes, perhaps crazy times?
It got me thinking about who I have become
since then and how I got here.
And what it must look like from the perspective of someone else.
Someone who knew me and then didn't and now does again.
Taking pause at where we are now.
Remember how, when we were little, people would always
ask us what we wanted to be when we grew up?
Nobody asks me that question anymore,
apparently because I am grown up. (That still surprises me.)
The gray hair moves me past the question
to a new place beyond.
But if I did get asked that question now
I would answer differently.
Present. Content with what I have.
Faithful. Trustworthy. Connected.
Those are the things I want to be.
We turn the canoe around at a bend in the river
and head downstream,
moving so much faster this direction.
Laughing at how bad I am at steering us on a straight course.
(There's the metaphor perhaps.)
Now, looking back on the day I realize,
I can (and should) rejoice at who I am and where I am headed.
As should we all.
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