Reconnecting with Brad on facebook has been one of those happy, random surprises of social networking. My college roommate Janis knew Brad from high school, so the three of us hung out a few times during college. Brad has family in San Diego and when we lived there, we went to a Christmas party at their house (complete with an awesome fiber-optic tree, if I’m putting the right memories together). The last time I saw him was at Janis’ wedding, which was almost nine years ago.
But thanks to the magic of the internet, we have been in touch for the past few years. Brad has the most intense job of any of my friends. He is an officer in the Army and specializes in defusing explosives. He just spent a year in Afghanistan. Brad’s status updates range from hysterical to intense to humbling. There were days his posts brought me to tears. And then the next update would make me crack-up. Those snippets about life in the middle of a conflict were a powerful reminder of the human side of war.
A few weeks ago Brad was in Michigan seeing old high school friends. Apparently, he has gotten a kick out of my photos & updates about Turo on facebook and wanted to meet the kid, so he also swung by to see us. Brad and Turo spent a big chunk of the afternoon running laps around our first floor, with an occasional break for adult conversation. After our guest left, Turo declared “I had so much fun with Brad.” It was a great visit, and hopefully nine more years won’t pass before we get to hang out again.
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