Tim

One of my best friend's from college has been touring with one of his best friends, Holly Miranda, that he met when he moved to New York after graduation. I found this great video of their tour in November. Every now and again he rolls through town and we catch up over beers, wine, and occasionally, guitars.

Friends You'll Have Forever

On Friday I drove down to Bel Air, Maryland to see my best friend from college, Kendall.

Kendall and I became friends through the random roommate lottery at the University of Delaware. However, she was not my original roommate assignment. I was supposed to live with a girl named Dina who I had never met, but rumor had it that she was a terrible bitch. So when Kendall called to say, "Hi! I'm your new rooommate, Kendall," I was ecstatic!

We kind of agreed that they must have switched us just to screw people up when the met us. "Which one is Kendra? Which one is Kendall?"

Our schedules never seem to mesh so we hadn't seen each other in about six months... a planned visit in February was ruined by a snowstorm. So I decided it was worth the drive for dinner.

Kendall took me to a restaurant called, "The Lodge." It's ski-lodge themed. Some of the booths are actual chair lifts. Very cool. It was great to catch up with a friend that I hardly get to see, but one that I know I will be seeing for the rest of my life.

This is the size of the "cups" they give you at the Lodge. I'm a little disgusted (yet I drank all of that chemical-infested Diet Coke... and loved it).

Does Jesus Enjoy Car Rides?

I am editing the beginning of this story heavily because my intention is not to embarrass or ridicule anyone, or become a blasphemous person. But this one was too funny for me not to share.

So let's say that someone that I am very close with told me last night that Jesus sat in the passenger seat of their car each day. I am not sure why they said this, or what that even would mean, since it was said in such a literal way. (Side note, my problem with the type of Christianity I grew up with is how particularly literal such abstract ideas can be...)

Anyway, today I tell one of my best friends in Wilmington about this. Holly (who I happened to have met at work) is a Christian, of a more practical type than I am used to. The kind that, had I been raised in a similar vein that she was, I probably wouldn't have had the same issues I have with Christianity that I do now... In fact, to go on another tangent, she has been one of the most influential people in my life over the past 2-3 years. I don't even know if she's aware of that. I digress, but I'm trying to get the point across that she "gets me," and I "get" her.

So I tell her about this conversation I had the night prior about Jesus sitting in the passenger seat of a very close person to me. She automatically knows how I feel about it. She knows I am disturbed because deep down somewhere in me, a place that I hardly ever acknowledge, I am afraid that these people are right. But she also knows that the majority of me is pained that they really think this is true, and that I really do not. The true strife of my religious debacle is the rift that it inherently causes between me and the people I love the most.

So she does what I need in a moment like that. She will joke right along with me.

I love Holly.

When I first told her the story it was in a more serious, "I am concerned and a bit hurt (this conversation contained more than which seat Jesus chose in the car)" tone.

So now, hours later I am still thinking about it and ready to get it out of my head.

So, I joke.

Holly and I talk in person and through our company's instant messenger all day. Today she worked from home, so this was all via instant messenger. After our conversation I laughed so hard that I had to save it, which I started out of the blue; we had been talking about work related issues right before this:

Kendra ... I hope that Jesus is sitting in my passenger seat when I drive home today.

Holly ... Not only is he going to be there in your passenger seat when you get in to drive home but he is waiting for you there right now.

Kendra ... I should have cracked a window.

I think I am hilarious sometimes. I am not.

And I still don't get it... and I'm still trying... but I sure as hell am still going to joke about it while I figure it out.

No pun intended.