Blast from the Past

I'm going to try to make this as brief as possible, so I can grab a quick bite & then actually get some work done for today (oy).

Right after college I took a job in radio. In the armpit (quite literally) of the state where I grew up. A tiny town, in the southwest section, 5 hours from my parents & several hours from "civilization". I was there for 2 months & then I got fired. Not one of my better moments, but still, I wasn't meant to be there, so getting fired was a blessing (even if it made me feel nauseous at the time).

While in was in said town, at said radio station, I grew VERY close to my co-workers: 2 guys, close in age to me--we hung out all the time when we weren't on the air (I did the morning show, Derek was after us from 10 till 2 & then Mikey was 2 till 6.) We called each other (jokingly) the 3 Musketeers & we had SO much fun the summer of 2000. Mikey & I ended up dating for most of that time too (I broke up w/ my college boyfriend for him. Not proud of how I went about it, but again, it was what needed to happen, on both sides of it).

Mikey called last night. Since the summer of 2000, Mikey has long been my "what-if" guy. I have swung back & forth about my feelings for him, wondering what would've happened, if I hadn't have left, moved to a new town after being fired, etc. Would we have gotten married? Would we have survived football season (he's a sports broadcaster & a complete sports NUT)? Who knows. So, between 2000 & 2004, I've kept having resurgent feelings for Mikey. We've gotten together several times too, seemingly to see if anything's there: March 2001, March 2002, June 2004. Each time we end up well...things just I don't know. So obviously, things WEREN'T supposed to be with us. I'm just a slow learner, I guess.

Anyway, Mikey called last night. He's moved on from his crappy radio job (he was let go from the station we both worked for, about 1 yr after I was fired & went back to the town where he grew up & worked in radio there). He's now got a radio job (sports, again) in a fairly big town (50K = big for the MidWest) & seems to be much happier. His voicemaill made me chuckle b/c we ended our last visit not well (bad feelings, mostly mine) & he figured I wouldn't want to talk. I've actually tried to call him since then, b/c I still consider him a friend (kinda like you bond w/ someone in times of extreme stress, ya know?).

Really, anyway...Derek is MARRIED. And, apparently married to somone Mikey dated for a few weeks b4 he left armpit. (funny & ironic) The stations in armpit are now under new ownership, which is good. I emailed Derek today & he said "Having new owenership is great. You had to watch your what you said or who you emailed because of Jay and Eileen always checking on you. They'd have a cow if we mentioned anything about you or Mike, so it put me at a very awkward position..." So...

It was nice to catch up w/ Mikey last night. He hasn't changed much (SUCH a one-track mind, but I admire his focus regarding his career. He certainly knows what he wants & knows exactly how to go about getting that). It's good to hear back from Derek. We'll never be close like we all were that summer, but...it's good to know that friendships do mean something after all.