FLIGHT PASSENGERS

Taking a solo flight in life does have it's fine qualities and yet when you encounter other passengers along the way it's makes the destination take on a new meaning. The people that come in to your life will always add dimension and character. It can lead to a lifelong association with someone who can truly understand and love you for who you are. Through all the happy and sad, good and bad, the silent and the reuniting times. Each moment meticulously sculpted out of friendship and the passing of time. You could never know when these passengers would show up, they just came on board mysteriously connected to you and you knew you would know them the rest of your life.
We don't get many of these passengers in our lives, so you must respect and nurture them safely, so you can rely on their presence when you need them. We encounter thousands of people in a lifetime and only the very few take hold and grow deep in your heart. My few life passengers have known me longer than I even knew my parents and yet here they still are. Most times I don't even need a telephone for any communication all I have to do is think of them and I can expect an immediate return call of a connecting thought to reassure me that they are on my mind wave length and there if I truly need them. It is the silent telecommunication that shows that you are connected to the bonds that friendship offers.

My first and longest life flight passenger arrived through a most precarious situation. I noticed him from afar at a party that I was attending. He was boyishly handsome, tall and very slim and I noticed his tousled blond hair gleaming from the light that was glowing from the chandelier that hung in his dining area of the apartment that was connected to the home from where the party was being held. After many other new greetings I made my way towards his apartment. Being an inquisitive teen I was also being snoopy while a lot of people were milling around where he stood. At first I thought he had a physical leg defect due to an odd walking gait but was happy to find out that it was only a cast that caused unusual limping. After our introduction, he explained his unfortunate injury with hilarity and I could not stop the laughter that sprang forth, most rapidly. I did not give a thought that I may have hurt his feelings by laughing and he quickly pushed away any fear that I may have insulted him by my naive attitude. I was drawn to his humor and his wit. He was savvy and wise and could read people by great observation the way I could. I could sense that he seemed to understand my young innocence and there at those early moments of meeting would be the person that I would know for over forty years.
We had a lot in common especially our love for music and records. A culmination of our early life stories and situations created the perfect scenario for new friendship. There would be so much shared laughter that all of it would turn the world around with joy and still have more to share. When I look at where we are today I don't see any difference in physicality or age marks, I still see the tall skinny young man that still can make me laugh till I cry and cry till I laugh. He was my mentor, yet he never knew that I quietly always wanted his respect and approval. He would always keep me aware of things so that I would not stray to far off the path. He taught me how to savor the liquid spirits and the appreciation of different cuisines. Our ability to keep from getting bored would always bring about chaos no matter how we tried to avoid it.
I was always an accident waiting to happen due to my undiagnosed A-D-D, and he would remind me of things that I would need to do so that I would not create, destroy or get in to something that would be detrimental to my well being. When we were together the male counterparts to Lucy and Ethel would appear with hilarious situations in pursuit. One word could set off a chain of unforgettable results. Whether we were at home, in a store, or a car the endless eruptions in laughter would end only after we would walk away from each other in order to gain some sort of composure and upright stance from painful stomach muscle cramps brought on by relentless laughter. Our bodies would resonate with youthful endorphins that were created by two people igniting their sense of humor. We have the ability to speak to each other without saying a word and can predict what will come next from each other. We were young and we had the world at our feet. Our thoughts were high and we looked forward to the next adventure we would share. Some situations led us down a one way street going the wrong way and others led us down cobblestone streets that would forever paint our minds with jostled memories that still continue to keep us smiling and weary of Dutch cabs.

As with any friend there are changing life choice times that can separate you. Personal choices can take you away to a different living area or a scenario would occur that would make you feel that a little time apart would be the best thing. It's those quiet moments of friendly separation that you can still feel a connection around you and you somehow would know that time will put it all back in order and you would continue down a new road. Situations and emotions make that thin line between love and hate. We both have done things that have made us cross that line. Somehow crossing that line would always lead us back to each other, wiser and very happy to be reunited again.
When I have felt very afraid and inexperienced in the relationship department, he possessed the amazing ability to take the risks that come with loving any human. It is an admiration that was silently watched and revered. I would always try to understand how he did it so eloquently and with aplomb. When changes were thrust upon him willy nilly he became a survivor. I fortunately was able to be there for his support when all else seemed dark. I have learned how to be stronger because of his presence in my life.

Like spies on a subway train we have crossed many bridges and sailed the seas and wreaked havoc in the Caribbean, South America and Europe. We have boundlessly crossed the United States where we have left our mark of laughter wherever we happened upon. In times of crisis we respond without even having to use a telephone as the transference of information is immediate and received telepathically. It may sound strange and weird yet the bond of friendship that ties is the invisible wireless link that keeps us connected.

I try to fly often with this life passenger. I know that there are still many reservations planned and I intend to cash in my tickets on this shared ride of friendship. I can't even imagine a life not knowing this man or feeling the admiration that took many years to grow. Most people don't take the time to let their feelings be known to people that they greatly respect, but I know that we take the time to make each other aware of how lucky we are to be ONE in friendship.

We may be older but our laugh factor has not diminished, our clairvoyance is sharply tuned and any Supremes song will still make us harmonize on cue. Afterall isn't it all about harmony?
For my life song, I will always have a partner (you know who you are), it's a duet that would make any person envious and want to reserve a seat on our flight just for the entertainment.