I wished a friend happy birthday on Facebook today. I haven’t seen him in eight years. We spoke a few months ago about getting together and I imagine we will sometime in the near future, and I truly look forward to seeing him again. So begs the question, if you haven’t seen him eight years, why do you love or care about him? At the risk of sounding like a dunce I will answer, I haven’t a clue why I do, but I know that I will always love and care about him because some people enter our hearts and never leave. They may leave us physically, but they simply become a part of our emotional DNA.
Of course those who know me will conclude I have a few theories about this phenom and I do.
First and foremost I believe it’s those people with whom we form an instant connection that seem to attach themselves the strongest. No one can deny they have met friends and instantly felt a strong gravitational pull toward that person. It’s as if a button has been pushed inside of us and a switch turns on and never turns off again. We may be friends and maintain a friendship that plays out on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, or one that takes us far away from one another and yet remains strong and connected. I must admit I don’t know why these attachments form, but they grow like moss on the side of a tree and the sunshine and rain keeps them viable.
This friend I mentioned is very special to me. He came into my life at a time when I was in the midst of pursuing a favorite dream. I was open and engaged in the world in which he lived and becoming a part of that world as well. But it wasn’t simply the commonality of our paths at that moment in time, it was the joy he brought along.
My son formed a great attachment to him and he responded eagerly as well. He made us both laugh, at times his conversations with my eight-year-old made me cringe, but my son absorbed his off-color humor and language as a lesson in what not to say, so I am grateful.
Whenever we were around him we laughed, we felt joyous and that feeling never changed or ended. The funny thing about my friend is he considers himself incredibly negative and outspoken and his humor reflects those qualities in spades. He is as politically incorrect as one can be, and yet he has no idea the joy he brings into other people’s lives, especially those who see through his gruff exterior, and know the caring and loving individual that lies beneath and beats with a heart of gold.
As most will attest to some people have a way of crawling inside our hearts and never leaving. But why? Many times they do leave, at least physically yet the feelings you harbor for them remain intact. It’s a fact there are those we may not have seen for years and when they call or we see them it’s as though no time at all has passed.
I believe it’s because they become a part of your happy place. Yes there is such a place in us all so don’t make fun of my phrasing.
We all treasure certain moments in our lives when we felt highly charged, happy, fulfilled and at peace with the universe. It may be a special time in our work, family or love life, and those who enter that happy place with us just seem to stay there. Even when the moment has passed, our feelings for that person have not. Seeing them again evokes feelings long buried inside or at times forgotten.
There are also those who have fallen down in life. I have such a friend as well. When he was on top he helped so many people, including my daughter and I. When he fell on hard times as the cliché goes, “ nobody knows you when you’re down and out…”
I try to keep in touch and in my thoughts. It breaks my heart to see how those who owe him so much have forgotten him. When someone has been good to us they deserve a place in our hearts and our minds.
Despite distance we care about these people and want the best for them.
We are happy when we hear they are rising and we cry with them when they suffer sorrow. Our souls are intertwined.
Surprisingly, at times one person may feel much more strongly toward the other, but that is because the reason for your feelings are just simply embedded in more emotional bedrock.
Of course there is also a chance, if you believe in it, that the feelings may stem from a past life. Yes many discount the notion of past lives, but for those who believe, the explanation is viable.
No one I know haven’t experienced that unusual feeling of walking into a room, seeing a total stranger and yet despite never knowing them, you pick up a very strong vibe. Either you want to get closer to them or something is telling you to get the hell away.
Why is that and how can you possibly want to run from someone you have never met and know nothing about? You have never heard them utter a word and yet you feel that if you did you would hate whatever they say immediately.
Kind of weird, huh?
And yet it happens all the time. Why these vibrations are picked up from other human beings I have no idea.
I just know that there are people in my life that I feel close to whether or not I am. When we are together it feels safe and warm and right, and because it does, you want to keep returning to that person and never let go of the feelings they bring with them.
It seems to be the kind of shared experience we can now more easily embrace thanks to social media like Facebook or Instagram where we can keep track of friends so much more easily.
Yes, I know there are parts of this new craze that are problematic like loss of privacy and too many other things to mention, but it does allow us to remain in closer contact with those with whom we have formed bonds and friendships we choose to keep close to our hearts. Perhaps there is one of those special people you want to call today. There’s no time like the present to give yourself a present.
Pumpkin Blueberry Mousse
With Pumpkin Candy Crunch Topping
1 cup pumpkin
1 cup fresh blueberries
7 ounces of cream cheese
1 ½ cups whipped cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1/8/ tsp cloves
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
Mix sugar and cream cheese until whipped nicely.
Add pumpkin and seasonings
Mix well. Set aside and whip cream until peaked.
Fold all but 1½ into pumpkin mixture. Set aside rest of whipped cream for topping.
Fold in blueberries and pour into parfait glasses or martini glasses. Top with whipped cream.
Place in fridge to set.
Pumpkin Seed Candy Crunch
Place two tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar in non-stick frying pan.
When melted and combined add ½ cup of pumpkin seeds (Not roasted or salted)
Sauté on low heat (watch carefully so they don’t burn) for about five minutes until seeds are nicely coated.
Remove from burner and place in fridge to harden.
When set and butter is hardened remove crunch from pan and chop up into pieces. Not too small but small enough to fit on top of mousse.
Bring mousses back out and top crunchies.
Enjoy!!!
