HS buddy came to visit. Had not seen him in over 20 years, he's now quite a famous maker of mandolins, and I have one of the first guitars he ever made.
It was nice to see him look it over and marvel at what great shape it's in. I've taken pretty good care of that baby!
We walked to the pub for lunch. It's about five short blocks from my place.
On the way he tells me he has arrhythmia and vertigo and started getting anxious about the distance, saying "I can't walk too far, I might pass out."
He's the same age as me, and I blow by that pub on my bike every morning on my ride to work.
He only quit cigarettes a couple of years ago, I thankfully managed to break free 30 years ago, quel difference?
Over lunch he tells me about the visits he and his wife (she has a bad thyroid and horrific menopause at the moment) had with two other old HS buddies.
One is drinking his way through a million-dollar inheritance.
He was disabled and got the refi-mortgages on the family house up to nearly a million before they cut him off, so when he sold it (in a city with insanely inflated housing prices, people are getting two million for small teardowns in the right part of town) he only cleared enough for a small house on the island where he now lives in the summer, and a little bit of cash to live on and rent a place in the city.
He's living with a woman who nursed a previous alcoholic boyfriend through to his death.
His son, who was raised in the bowels of chaos while HS friend was going through a nasty prolonged divorce) is now a nasty alcoholic as well.
The list of ailments was fairly horrific.... and again, same age as me.
They finished off their visit at another buddy's house. The one who was / is still married to my realtor friend. Multiple *major* FOO issues, physical disabilities and very poor mental health.
He said they practically RAN out of there in about twenty minutes because he's so passive aggressive and talks about himself and his problems *non-stop*. (Which is why my BFF had to leave him.)
What a crew!
I like a good party, but I'm fairly disciplined about taking care of myself.
I feel so blessed to be as healthy and strong as I am now.
[This message edited by FaithFool at 11:31 AM, August 10th (Sunday)]