Reunion

In 1994, 1995, I lived in Chicago with Mitchell, and our friend Ken. Ken was a great guy who was also in Killer Joe with me, in Ithaca. Just a straight-up wonderful person. Over the years, I lost track of Ken, although I would hear of him through Mitchell and mutual friends – people running into him, he’s doing well, he’s well-known and well-liked. But I have not seen him or spoke to him since 1995. One of the things that we loved to do as roommates was gather around the TV every night at 11:30 (if I remember correctly) to watch thirtysomething, which Lifetime had purchased and was running in sequence. I taped every one of them (thank God, because the damn series has not been released on DVD, which is insane to me). Ken, who is a big salt-of-the-earth type, who wore backwards baseball caps, made some of the funniest weirdest comments as we watched. He had a whole different outlook. We’d be watching some episode, and he’d make some comment that would have us rolling on the floor with laughter. It was always something like, “You know she has smelly burps.” Or “I am betting Ellen has hairy nipples.” We’d be like, “WHAT????”

And then I moved to New York and this was before the Internet was in my life, and before Facebook, and I lost touch with a lot of people, Ken included.

Now, though, I am back in touch with him through Facebook. We haven’t really spoken, just “friend”-ed each other, and my life has been a whirlwind over the last two months – well, two years, really – but I haven’t been in a corresponding mood. No energy to spare. But I always had really fond memories of Ken, so it was nice to see his face again.

And yesterday afternoon, as the snow came down, and I was missing my brother – who had been staying with me – and missing my sisters and my mother and everyone – I sat at my computer and scanned probably 400 photos into my computer. I went into a fugue state. I posted some on Flickr, some on Facebook, I couldn’t stop.

Suddenly, a little IM window popped up and it was Ken. No preamble. No “hey how are you?” He had left me a nice note telling me he was thinking of me – but in the IM he dispensed with niceties and got right to the point, picking up where we left off in 1995. I have not spoken to him since 1995. And here is our conversation from yesterday:

4:58 Ken
Why isn’t 30something on DVD?
4:58pmSheila
I cant figure it out!!! What the eff???
Is it the music rights or something like that?
Mitchell and I still ROAR about some of your comments about that show. I remember you saying something about Hope along the lines of, “You just know she has pepperoni breath.”
4:59pmKen
Frickin crime
4:59pmSheila
Totally!
It needs to come out in a deluxe edition, with special features, and interviews and all that crap.
4:59pmKen
Amen
5:00pmSheila
What was the name of that married douchebag that Ellen was fooling around with? We hated him SO MUCH
5:01pmKen
Have to think
I miss Miles Drentell
5:01pmSheila
JEFFREY
I miss Miles Drentell too. Brilliant.
5:02pmKen
Ugh
5:03pmKen
Ellen was a straight up mess
5:03pmSheila
Totally. I give her and Billy a year, tops.
5:03pmKen
Laughing Hard!!!!
5:04pmSheila
Me too!!!!!
Ahhh, Melissa and Lee. Let’s hope they get over their age differences and make a go of it.
5:04pmKen
Poor Ethan….kid had issues
5:05pmSheila
Oh God. That kid should never be allowed near firecrackers and that’s all I’m saying.
I feel that Gary was roped into domesticity, that it wasn’t really his bag.
5:06pmKen
I agree….wild stallion needs to roam free
5:07pmSheila
Or die in a snowstorm. either one.

It is the small things, like that IM conversation, that keep me grounded, make me remember who I am, and that life is good. I’ll keep comments open for now. Not sure.