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A Night with David |
| Written by John Wells | |
| Thursday, 13 March 2008 | |
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Share it:      A Night with David During a late afternoon in mid September, an old friend from his childhood days greeted him at the front door. It was none other than David C., his first true friend he made when he came to Canada. David C. lived just two doors away when they were close childhood buddies. It was decided not with words, but with silent understanding that David C would spend the night with him. They would try to recreate, to recapture the way they once were with each other and this would include sleeping together and finding things to say and share through the night like they once did when they went camping together at a beach resort with David C.’s family. The first few hours of the visit were awkward, but as the time went by, their true childhood character emerged, and they could both see why they liked each other so very much. As they slept and spoke through the night, they became more intimate with each other. The inhibitions fell away. Their talk was candid. Their senses were opening. The scent of their youth was re-awakening. He always liked the way David C. smelled, and this night, with David C. sleeping without a shirt on, he recognized that same heather-like odor. He also noticed David’s hairless chest and underarms. He had not really changed much since their preadolescent days. And during the night, he wanted to tell David some things about why he made the change and why their friendship drifted apart. He said,“it was trauma, Dave. It was trauma. I can’t put a finger on where it came from, but if you recall, my mother had been drinking again, my brothers had left home, and I was finding it very difficult to stay in high school. I had stopped enjoying so many things. It became quite a challenge to be in the mainstream of teenage activity. I did not want to be a part of it at the time, and so with my mother’s approval, I continued high school by correspondence and secluded myself for the most part in my room. I was afraid to go out. I left so many things which could have made me a stronger person, more competitive, more life seeking." It was a great relief to tell David of these things, to make it clear to him that it was not anybody's fault. There were just these circumstances that evolved over which he really had little control of. It was also important for him to hear what David had endured. David said, “I married Dana, had two beautiful children, and now, nearly thirty years later, Dana is no longer at my side.” Hearing David tell his story, he realized they both suffered major losses. They were on the same footing. They could both understand each other as two mariners shipwrecked psychologically by the causalities of relationships: the fate of investing the heart in temporal tides. In the morning, he and David hardly spoke to each other. There was nothing more to share. The time of being close to each other had passed and David went on his way. Copyright 2008 John Wells |
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