I met up with my buddy

on the golf course

He told me

he was moving to Florida

so he didn’t have to deal with the bullshit COVID restrictions

in Seattle.

We’ve been friends since 1st grade

How does that happen?

My best friends are like magnets—

some force

keeps us together.

Even 3,000 miles

won’t separate us.

As we played our round

I was barely coherent

I had my second COVID shot

the day before.

To recover,

I drank 10 shots of espresso

ate a meat lovers pizza

and took some vitamins.

Now, rather than my head and neck hurting,

it’s my lower back.

I’ve gained some weight

since high school, and I tell my friend,

“You look the same.”

We talked about the possibility of marriage,

and how we were approaching 40.

High school seemed like yesterday.

I remember the old guys on the golf course who were 40, when I was in high school

They wore polo shirts and fancy pants, and held middle-class jobs

Now, I was wearing a polo shirt and fancy pants, and I had a middle-class job

My friend has always been different…

I admire him

for this reason.

He works one day a week

and wears 7-dollar shorts

because he doesn’t care.

When other people are trying to progress in life

he knows…

there is no progression.

When I dropped him off

for the last time

the moment was special

life only gives us a few of these

I’ve had a few of them

with my friend.

Now, he is asking my advice

Friends do this

before they travel a great distance

I tell him

to love life,

to love God,

to love people.

Loving God is easy.

Loving Life is difficult.

Loving People is down-right impossible.

But I have faith in my friend

there’s only a few people like him

I feel lucky to have them

in my life

it’s magic.