Old Acquaintance

I spoke to one of my college roommates from senior year today. We talked for about an hour. Normally not that newsworthy, but I think it has been 27 years since we were in contact last. He was our neighbor in our apartment complex freshman year (1986), and all of us living in both apartments became good friends. I think we lost track of each other when I started business school in 1993.

For some reason, his name popped up in my head yesterday, so I did a quick Google search. One of the hits was an online people search site, and one record looked familiar. I then sent an email introducing myself, and he replied. He ended up calling me today, and we talked about what happened in our lives since the mid 90’s.

The reason I am posting was because the conversation was a bit depressing in hindsight. The call was fine, and it was good to talk to an old friend. However, trying to summarize my life for the past three decades, it was 1) divorce, 2) CABG surgery, and 3) ESRD and kidney transplant. I did survive all that but it feels the most recent half of my life has been driven more by tragedy than joy. A bit dramatic perhaps, but my current situation is not how I imagined life when I was younger.

Being a Christian, I know I am supposed to be glad that I am still alive, have a good job, mostly financially secure, and all my immediate family are close. There is just some dissonance between expectations and reality of God’s mercy and grace.