LifeLong Friends...

My long time love of my life, Mike Pomerleau, wrote that to me once in a letter...or in my year book, I can't remember. Either way, I had an opportunity to see another one of the "Mike's" from my past this weekend.

Mike Greene was one of my bestest friends at TASIS. Yes, of course I was in love with him, well as much in "love" as a high school can get. But we were better suited as friends. He and I used to argue of which Washington was the "real Washington. See he lived in DC - which is the fake one of course. He suggested that Washington State is really only good for Apples, Slugs and rain and could therefore not be the "real" Washington. I'll be the good friend and let him "think" he's won...but he hasn't. ( I mean Washington is after all a STATE, while DC is - well - a District of Columbia)

We talked about the old days, who we still kept in touch with, who we could careless if we ever heard from, teachers we liked, school situations, and of course the teasing of significant others we "dated" while in school. We both marveled at how much time had past since those carefree days at TASIS. How I miss the free-ness of that time in my life? How I wish I would have taken more advantage of being in Europe?

I took him to a well know restaurant here in Seattle, Duke's Chowder House. Only then did I learn that Mike wasn't a fish person....huh? What type of person lives in Massachusetts and isn't a fish person? But Duke's, fortunately, had other viddles to be had...AND a Reggea Band playing...which made me feel more like I was in the Caribbean than Seattle. The weather was perfect. Alki - which is where we had dinner - is on the ocean and looks out into the Puget Sound to the San Juan islands. Very picturesque! Alki Beach is the site where the first white settlers landed in Seattle on a cold, stormy day in November of 1851. Chief Seattle and his tribe greeted them - which is who Seattle is named after.

All in all it was great to see him. We've both "aged" and physically changed slightly, probably me more than him - but we are still basically the same. It was funny how easily we just fell back into conversation as if no time had past since we last saw each other - which by the way has been 9 years! Neither one of us could fathom that it's almost been TWENTY years since graduation.