Monday, October 26, 2009

Old Friends

An old friend contacted me recently. We had fallen out of touch after our last move many years ago. I recently logged in to Facebook to find a friend request for Nigel from a dog with a very familiar last name. Curiosity piqued, I immediately accepted and jumped to the profile of this dog to verify what I had suspected. I found my way to contact info, and within minutes this old friend and I were chattering away, catching up on all things dog. The time and circumstance that had separated us fell by the wayside as she described the events that led to our reunion.





Some of you will recall an old post, specifically this one. I let that post linger for the entire day before divulging that the dog pictured was not actually Nigel, but was in fact his very similar looking cousin, Ferrin. Ferrin was adopted by this old friend shortly after she met Nigel and fell in love with Greyhounds.

Not too long ago, our old friend was walking Ferrin on the bike path that winds through Burlington and along the shores of Lake Champlain. In all but the most severe weather the bike path is a fairly happening place, with throngs of joggers, skaters, bikers and dog walkers scuttling about. On this particular evening our old friend was accosted by one of the bike path walkers, who took one look at Ferrin and stopped in her tracks immediately. Our old friend looked up just in time to see this stranger approaching, excited and smiling. Before she could even say hello a question was fired at her: "Oh my god is that Nigel Buggers from Facebook??"

She politely explained that Ferrin was not Nigel, and after a brief exchange, old friend and random bike path exerciser went their separate ways. She could not help but wonder why a stranger was so excited to find one Nigel Buggers cavorting about the bike path, so she begrudgingly signed up for a Facebook account and found her way to me. I was thrilled to hear that she had adopted a second Greyhound, and that Ferrin and his new housemate were two very happy campers. We laughed at some of my internet antics, and decided that a play date for the dogs was a must. We remembered old bike rides, dog quirks, forgotten friends. Our old friendship had been rekindled by an unwitting facilitator: Nigel.

Another old friend and I recently had the chance to spend time together. I say old friend, but should say new old friend. In this internet age, many of us foster long term relationships that never involve a face to face meeting - consider your long term blogging pals, Facebook friends, internet group members that you stay in close contact with - despite the fact that you have never met in person. In this case it was an old business relationship that had led to hundreds of calls, a flurry of instant messages lobbed at one another to gripe about work hassles: significant deals closed together under tremendous pressure. Five years of high stress business interactions had drawn us closer, had made friends of strangers, and pointed out to both of us the upside of technology and its ability to make the world smaller.



Last week we had a chance to seal the deal. A big development at work meant that this old friend would have to fly in to town to spend a day in meetings with me. We both grinned like fools when he stepped in to my office. Five years of hard work, late nights, countless e-mail exchanges and contracts were forgotten as we just stood there beaming, our friendship consummated in a timeless act that could never take place online: a handshake.

When the closing bell rang we ran for the doors. I drove far too quickly, whisking him out of Burlington and into the mountains where we reside. As we entered the house I paused to observe the moment I had anxiously awaited. My old friend dropped everything, crouched down in the kitchen, and was swallowed up by our unreasonably happy pack of dogs.

He had spent five years watching them grow from afar. He remembered the first Sola blog post. We had both shared many laughs at work as we watched the dogs on a webcam I had set up to babysit them while I was bringing home the bacon. Every time we spoke, he reminded me to kiss the dogs for him - not once, but four times each. For five years. Now, he was swimming in them.

We spent the evening celebrating. The dogs played to the brink of exhaustion. We grabbed a giant flashlight and took a late night tour of the river in front of the house and the surrounding forest. Half of a bottle of Johnny Walker scotch disappeared in to my old friend, and there was laughter in abundance. We marveled at our ability to fall into this comfortable place considering that we had never actually met before this day.

The night was too quickly spent. At one in the morning we gave up the ghost and put the cap back on the scotch bottle. My old friend had to fly out the next morning at ten, and I had a number of contracts to button up before the weekend. He spent many minutes saying goodbye to each dog before we departed. We wound our way out of the hills, my car screaming in the night, both of us giddy to be propelled through the darkness by an abundance of horsepower. At one thirty in the morning he fell out of my car and spilled in to the hotel lobby as I laughed hysterically. I departed in a cloud of tire smoke, knowing that he would struggle to sober up in time to make his flight. He did.

I drove home in quiet contemplation, sadness and glee washing over me in equal measure. I could not help but marvel at the power of friendship and its ability to invigorate. The ominous forest surrounding me whizzed by as the speedometer reached for the hundred mark, my iPod spinning a random selection from the mellow playlist. The finer details of the commute were lost on me as I considered old friends and all we had shared.

My key turned slowly in the lock at as I returned to the house. It was nearly two in the morning, and I was doing my best not to alarm the dogs. I flipped on the kitchen light and was immediately and enthusiastically greeted by another old friend. It was Nigel.





He is a creature of habit: he lives by routine, and my late night departure had troubled him. He spent the next thirty minutes expressing his relief at my return, his frantic kisses suggesting that it was not acceptable to abandon our family members after the clock strikes midnight. He pressed in to me, shaking, hiding his snout under my armpit and giving me a firm push to remind me that old friends stick together in the darkness. I comforted him, snuck him a late treat, and wrapped him in his blanket once he had time to realize that home order had been restored.

I loved him for worrying. I bid him good evening and flipped the last remaining light switch as I made my way up the stairs, fell into bed and lost consciousness, my dreams awash in new memories. One of my oldest and dearest friends slept a floor below me, a sentinel on the sofa keeping watch over our family in the pure, silent blackness of a moonless autumn night.

Photobucket

43 comments:

  1. Awwww. :)

    Though I have to laugh - I wish I could have seen the exchange between Ferrin's owner and the biker!

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  2. Wonderful story, makes me think of all the friends I wish I could see again. Thank you for sharing!

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  3. Nigel Buggers of Facebook. that needs to be a t-shirt.

    i found out from FB that a girl i used to play soccer against is now a woman married to Never Say Never's brother.

    Too bad that I'm not single. I'd want to introduce myself as Nigel Buggers from Facebook. I guess I should be a guy, too.

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  5. now i cant decide whether to vote for Mr. Bugger's ingenious bubbles or Mr. Author's touching, honest, wonderfully written take on life. one thing for sure, this blog is addicting!

    ~ the Secretary

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  6. I love the circumstances surrounding your catching up with your old friend.

    I also love how easy it is to make new friends and share their, often far away, lives in ways that would have been impossible just a few years ago.

    Having said that, I'm still resisting FB. Blogging takes up enough of my time......just ask my husband!

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  7. lovely........thanks for sharing!

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  8. Sometimes the internets can bring wonderful surprises for sure.

    Slobbers,
    Mango

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  9. I recently attended the Siberian Husky Club of America National Specialty. The cool part - I met dozens of "friends" that I had known for years online, but had never met face to face. Friends both human and canine. What a fantastic experience.

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  10. Yes, furends are only one rung behind FAMILY on the ladder of life. They lift us up when we need it,let us down gently when they must, and make difficult things easier.

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  11. Great story. We were fortunate enough to meet a "blogging" friend too. It was a wonderful experience to meet someone for the first time that you know so well. We have plans to meet another "friend" next year from the other side of the country. Blogging makes the world a smaller place.

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  12. Indeed a favorite!! There is nothing like good friendship!! I just love all of my facebook friends. Most of the time they are better friends than the ones that are 5 minutes away from me. I've had a very opposite week, and have been let down by friends. I know that I can go home to my girls and my facebook friends and they will make it all better.

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  13. What a beautiful story of sharing, friendship and true devotion. Dogs truly bring people together!

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  14. Aw, you're trying to make me cry on this Monday morning!

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  15. What a great story, and think just some random blogger friend in the woods started it all=)

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  16. Wonderful story! It amazes me how close we can get to people we've never met and probably never will. Your old new old friend more than lived up to your hopes and expectations - excellent!

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  17. Any human who gets down to dog level to be greeted by a "strange" pack of dogs is a good human. At least in my book.

    Hoover BPD

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  18. Anonymous11:21 AM

    OH thanks for sharing this. Hope wonderful. I've made many friends thanks to the internet and have only met a handful in person. But every single one we picked up when we met as if we had been long life friends!

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  19. Another lovely post, Mr. A. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Thanks so much for sharing. Here's wishing you and yours a wonderful week.

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  20. One of my faves, for sure....and why I keep coming back. Wonderful story!
    As Always, A Pleasure!

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  21. I just figured out what my Halloween costume is going to be.... Nigel Buggars from FaceBook! I had better start working on my spots.

    Nigel does have a way of bringing us all together! Thank you Nigel my life will never be empty again!

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  22. Anonymous12:30 PM

    a greyt story about wonderful friends and even more wonderful dogs. Does life get any better than this? I think not. Thanks.
    the western SC gang minus Sophia, our angel

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  23. What a great story! Just beautiful!
    Tail wags,
    Storms

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  24. AW, what a very lovely story! You described it so well, I almost felt like I was right there living it with you.

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  25. wow--i am glad it was your favorite blog post of the week! but it IS only Monday you know...lol!!

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  26. Can picture the car zooming through the Burlington roads...I-pod blaring MELLOW!
    What wonderful encounters and rekindles.

    Hugs and snaggle-tooth kisses,
    Sierra Rose and mom

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  27. Every monday should start with a story this great!

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  28. What an awesome story to read on this Monday morning! :)

    Mochi

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  29. Woof! Thanks for sharing a lovely story. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

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  30. Thanks for sharing Great story!
    Licks and Wags, Ariel <3

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  31. So good to be able to check up on you guys!!!
    Nice post...
    miss you

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  32. Very well said, as always! I love the pictures and funny stories, but I love the slightly sentimental ones you throw in sometimes, too! It made me think of some people that I'd really like to meet in person who are dear internet friends. And of course, I'd be just as star struck as anyone to meet Nigel in person one day!

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  33. I love your story. I too met an 'old friend' for the first time this year, and we instantly felt like long lost sisters. What an amazing feeling.

    The last part about Nigel waiting for you brought tears to my eyes. My old friend, K, has done exactly the same thing several times when my life has gone slightly crazy, leading to odd behaviors like going out in the middle of the night.

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  34. I find it hard to express how wonderful this post made me feel. I do know it gave me hope that an internet friendship can be just as true as one formed in person. It is so funny to have a person stop Ferrin and ask if he was Nigel Buggers! The real Nigel Buggers may have to start wearing dark glasses and a wig when going out in public so he won't be recognized.

    Thank you Mr. Author for weaving this random series of events into a beautiful tale that touched us in a very special place. Even though many of us still may never meet in person, we KNOW for sure now that it would be a grand time if we did!
    Chester's Mom

    Pee. Ess. Slow down Mr. Author, we'd kinda like to have you around for awhile to entertain us.
    Chester ;0=)

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  35. I'm at a loss for words to explain how this post made me feel, but suffice it to say that it touched me deeply. I guess Chester's mom said it quite well.

    A big thanks to Chester's mom for helping me to express myself, since I suck at it!

    My P.S. We can all still hope that we could meet in person someday. Wouldn't it be wonderful, a big dog party at one of our places!

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  36. How khool!

    Tank woo fur sharing it!

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra

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  37. Wow that is crazy. Mom said its a small world whatever that means
    Benny & Lily

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  38. We just loved your post - thank you for it. It put lots of smiles on our human's face.

    Woos, the OP Pack

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  39. Lovely story. I always say that looking into my dog's eyes is like looking into the eyes of an old friend.

    Cheers to our online friends; we may not yet have met, but you make us smile every day!

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  40. This story is incredible. All your words touched our heart. Beautifully written about friendship all kinds of friendship and our loyal dogs who are our friends forever.
    love
    tweedles

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  41. Anonymous1:13 PM

    loved this... thanks

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  42. What a lovely story, I had tears in my eyes as I was reading. Friendship is a beautiful thing, both human and canine and Nigel's worrying and unconditional love for you just underlines how truly wonderful dogs are.
    Lynne (Dip-Dip, Bridge and Elliot's mum)

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  43. I just re-read this and it just really make me smile. Thank you for sharing......

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