I got a card in the mail from Shannon yesterday. It was completely random as far as I can tell. It’s not my birthday (and I have been terrible about everyone else’s birthday this year), and it wasn’t a holiday. It was just a card. A card about sandwiches, actually.

Sandwiches? You say. Why yes, sandwiches. Good old deli-style sandwiches on hearty bread. Shannon and I have a legacy of sandwiches. It occurs to me that it was this time of year, 1992, when I first really got to know her. She was trying to convince me to go to London for a semester. It worked. And really, that’s where the sandwiches started so I guess that makes it sandwich history. Maybe it’s our Sandwichversary.

I was reading through old blog entries on Tuesday and was struck by how often I talked about Thursday lunches with Shannon. They were the highlight of nearly every week for more than a year. We had sandwiches. Sometimes we had cheese fries. It was better than therapy. And then today I got this card. Sometimes it’s better not to think too hard about timing and just roll with it.

As I start to really establish a friend-base here in Ohio I am constantly wondering things like, “What would Shannon make of Julie?” “What would Christopher think of Jeff?” “Sam should dance with Jamie.” “Michael would LUV Tommy.” “Christina would want to throttle NBK.”

Because I carry all of your voices with me daily, and I miss folks who are far away. I miss having a beer and “I love you MAN!” time with Christopher. I miss sunny days in Piedmont Park and early gym mornings with Michael. I miss impromptu Karaoke and deep conversations with Samantha and knocking out plaster walls and eating Ferg’s wings with Myra.

And I miss Thursday lunch with Shannon. Who might be amused to know that I still carry a piece of paper around in my wallet that says, “Bill Bradley baked a special birthday cake for Rupert. Poop-Poop!”

And there is never enough time and never enough money and rarely enough energy to travel to see you all as often as I’d like–there’s a baby I’ve not yet met and an entire world in Seattle I still haven’t experienced. And time only ever goes forward.

And then I get a card in the mail about a sandwich. And I realize how fabulous it is that while you are all hundreds of miles away and in all different directions, you’re actually standing right beside me.

And I am blessed and lucky.