Day 99

Let me tell you about Jon.

Jon is my pretty much best friend. I heart him. In the midst of a year otherwise remembered as the time when a dementor lived next door, Jon was my happy thought that shed light into dark corners and woke me up from an angsty slumber. He drove me places in his little red car affectionately dubbed The Jellybean. He appreciated my random sense of humor, and loved Arrested Developement as much as I (if not more). Sometimes we would spend evenings watching this and this over and over getting just as much joy from every fresh viewing as the one before.

One time we found where Sirius Black lived and another we saw Sherlock Holmes in the dollar theater and Jon patiently listened to me talk through the whole thing (he even laughed at my irreverent commentary). 

The night before we parted ways - he heading to small town Missouri, I to big city SoCal - he left a big bag of Swedish fish on my doorstep as a gesture symbolic of his recent mission call to Stockholm, Sweden where he has been serving for the past six months. 

In the morning we hugged and said our goodbye's. I said "Have a good mission." He said you too. 

This week I got a letter from Jon. He is much better about writing me than I am him. (Sort of true... I write him and then forget to send my letters.) Included was the most grandiose chocolate bar I have ever seen , a special token for my birthday. He always sneaks in some sort of gift in his notes (a stamp, a coin, a rose petal), but this took the cake. And, because he knows me that well, on the outside of the letter envelope was written in his tight, cramped scrawl: Go ahead and eat the chocolate before you read the note. I don't judge.

I miss Jon.

When I drove back into the valley last August (to stay, though I didn't know it at the time) I longed for my friend. For his giggle and his mellow nature that so juxtaposed my own excited tendencies. For aimless drives in back-country Utah on Sunday mornings or during tedious study nights. The fishbowl wouldn't - couldn't - be the same without him. And it hasn't been.

But he'll be home before I know it. 

In the meantime, if anyone from Sweden is checking in and keeping up with my small little blob, might I entreat you to say hello should you see him. He'll be the clean cut young man in a suit and tie with a name tag (Alste Youd) and matching companion. Invite him in should he knock. Listen to his message. Feed him if you have the means and time. 

He is more than a suit. He is a person with a love of astronomy and Old English Sheep Dogs. He listens to Pink Floyd and once tried to cook bacon with the aid of a plastic fork. He has seen every Ocean's 11 movie multiple times. I know because I watched with him. 

If you want to know more about Jon, I direct you to his own blob, Okay Gig in the Sky. This is my favorite.

Love you Eldery!