THE FOG FRIEND

In a recent post about friendship I described a categorical list of friends: the best friend forever, the spiritual friend, the friend that makes you laugh, and more.  Driving from Crossville TN to Paducah 3 days ago I discovered a new and vital friend…the Fog Friend

At 5:30 in the morning I stepped out of the hotel in Crossville into an incredibly dense fog.  Slowly and cautiously I crawled onto the Interstate just a few blocks away, unable to see anything beyond 30-40 feet.  Even though I am a Tiger, I must admit it was a little frightening as I crawled along I-40 west, grateful for the occasional respite from the fog when I could see perhaps 100 feet ahead of me.  About 30 minutes into the drive my new friend appeared, an 18-wheeler that was traveling at a speed consistent with the conditions.  I quickly fell in behind him and proceeded to be his puppy for the next 2 hours.  On several occasions another car would get between us, much to my dismay, but their relationship with the fog friend lacked the commitment of my own. As we approached the Briley Parkway in Nashville I was prepared to say goodbye, but to my delight my friend proceeded onto the parkway, and I followed him until the approach to I-24 where I lost him in another cloud of dense fog.  But from Crossville to Nashville, the driver of that 18-wheeler was my best fog friend forever.

I made it on my own from Nashville to the KY line, where the fog finally dissipated and I enjoyed a peaceful drive through Kentucky farmland bejeweled with autumn colors.

FRIENDSHIP

-->Anais Nin put it beautifully when she said, "Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

Defying the obvious overlapping and gray areas, I find it interesting to think of friendships as they fit the following catagories:

The timeless or forever friend

The “what if” friend – If only we had more time to get to know each other….

The convenient - circumstantial friend

The not quite friend

The spiritual friend

The good time friend

The friend who makes me laugh

The refrigerator friend

The family friend

The shared or mutual friend

The mentor friend

The opposite sex friend

The colleague friend

The common interest friend

The life event friend

In my seventy-four years I have had friends move in and out of my life, the course of our friendship determined by our shifting circumstances.  Most of the time we have lost touch with one another, relying on memories to sustain the kinship.  Recently, with the aid of modern social networks, I have been able to re-connect with some of these friends from the past, and that is pure delight.

 

This was a very unique group of friends.  They visited me (hat and sunglasses) when I was diagnosed with measles in my sophomore year of high school.  I think they were hoping to catch the measles bug so they could stay home from school.  That did not happen.