That's right; I've been lapse in posting again. A lot has happened in the past two months. Julie came back into my life. I've moved. John graduated and is enlisted in the Navy. Julie dumped me. I was offline for about two weeks.

What? Julie?! Last thing I had posted here she was in Michigan and our relationship was already a thing of the past. I could get heavily into that but I'll save that for another post. OK, maybe a couple of posts.

First, let me tell you about two phone calls I received today.

Today is Father's Day and my son called me. While that may not seem like a big deal the fact that my son did this, the fact that I have seen more birthdays and Fathers Days than me and my father is significant. My father didn't live to see me graduate. Every day I have with him from here on are virgin territory for me as a father. I am trying to walk that line between being parent and best friend. I think it's going pretty good so far. As things like a job and girlfriend put me lower on his list of things to do I worry that time and distance will erode our relationship. But that all melts away the moment I get a phone call or text from him.

And I love getting text messages from him. They a random and silly. He will send me a joke. Tell me about a movie or TV show he is watching. It is the intimacy of it that I love. To know he has taken the time to tap out a message and the thought it takes to be brief and right to the point shows that I do mean something to him.

Yeah, I think I'm doing OK so far and look forward to what each new day brings.

There is an old friend of mine, Buddy, who I have not been in touch with since moving down here. Through a mutual friend we were finally able to get in touch with each other. For the past few years we have been a mere few hours from each other. Our history goes back to High School and a connection of fandom and that our fathers worked together in the police department. Time and miles do their damage and it is always good to reconnect. We've emailed a couple times and talked on the phone making plans to try to meet up. Then, today, I got a call from him out of the blue.

He was going through a rough patch as life gave him a few major kicks in the nards and he was feeling down. He said that he called me, not to bitch and moan about the bad stuff he was going through, because he knew that I would be able to cheer him up. He said that through all the years he knew me and all of the shit storms I had been through that I has the ability to come through it with a smile and that he admired me for it.

I was floored.

For all the Hallmark sentimentality I say I live by I have never before have someone turned it back on me. People in my life do seem to acknowledge that they enjoy me being in their lives and that I add something to our relationship I have never had someone like him actually say something like he did. It humbled me and made me feel very good.

To out this in a Hallmark kind of mode; do just like Buddy did. Take time to tell those people in your life how much they mean to you. It might just improve their day.