End: How some people can help you start back?
Honestly, there are very few instances where I feel like myself…
Not necessarily a singular “out-of-body” experience, but this life is rather a consistency of being awkward and apologizing. At times, I find it difficult to concentrate because I worry about external elements that may affect me, even though they usually are so down the line, these factors are nowhere near present-time. Recently, I came upon an epiphany that changed all that. Without this epiphany, I would not be able to sit down still enough and write this very passage you’re skimming right now. And it’s all thanks to my friend, Reena Maali.
Lemme set the scene for you; I’ve been visiting my family in Florida for the winter holidays. And while getting presents, gorging on food and seeing old friends has been beyond splendid, I still had a deep concern for the upcoming year. Diligence and responsibility was to replace “slack-a-daisical” whimsy, yet I wasn’t sure how I’d be so on-point. I was deeply troubled.
Coincidentally, while I was visiting my figurative big brother, an elusive diamond of formerly fallen memory contacted me in response to a long-awaited plea to see if she’d be free to hang with me. Keep in mind, I haven’t seen this dear, sweet, witty and funny soul for almost a year plus! Not to mention, she replied on the eve of New Year’s Eve? What?! But I do recall, upon further speculation, that Reena always something about her, so intriguing yet amicable, that I daresay admired, in spite of officially meeting this underclasswoman as the T. V. Production assistant-to-the-Schwartz.
We finalized plans right away and before you know it, I was off to venture with the last friend I’d see in 2015. Literally.
Always an subtle aficionado of style, Reena showed up to my door in a cozy cardigan, a red rack-hider, hip-hugging mom jeans, and a pair of Keds sneakers. Her hair had the consistency of steel wool and her skin was akin to that of a Beluga whale tanning under tungsten.
Surprisingly, she gifted me a hug! Remember, the last time we hugged was two or three years ago, and that was for an instructional student-made video on “how to give hugs.” (It should’ve been titled “how not to break backs.”)
Anyhow, I invited her to wait a brief moment indoors whilst I was equipping my baggage with “snackages.” Lo and behold she comes across my mother. If you know anything about Alba Archila, you’ll get that she is a social butterfly on steroids. Needless to say, both parties were joyous at how grand the other was.
Grilled Cheese, at least to our knowledge, had long been excommunicated from the Church of Winter Garden Conservatives for some time now. Yet, we unconsciously we eager to find it, in spite of picking up Goldilockian smoothies and kale chips. Plant Street of Winter Garden has a very light and brisk melody to it, of which both Reen-A-Ding-Deen and I were well-versed in. From the Edgewater Hotel to the Fencing Academy, the Pizza Joint to the old Record and Bookstores. Even the laundromat and the security camera store. But boy, oh boy! Did all that walking make our dogs start a-barkin’! Finally, in the midst of a heated conversation uprising about education in Florida, we spotted a restaurant called Mom’s. Now, our mothers are familiar enough as it is, but I suppose you could refer to our carbon-based bodies as shitty double-crossers because we were so much more hooked to room there, once we saw — and smelt — the inner workings of a bye-gone era. Old family portraits, classic board games and perhaps Panini-pressed grilled cheese sandwiches, ripe for the taking. Can I be adopted? Because we especially loved this Mom-and-Pop place dearly!
(So much that even her brother tried it hourse afterwards on a break from WDW!)
Oakland Nature Preserve is off the near-toxic Lake Apopka but barely on the radar of Reena. And although her outdoorsy experiences were shattered by the lackluster Shadow Bay Park in Dr. Phillips, she happenned to enjoy ONP — where I shot my Eagle Scout “Naturementary” — very much. There, we saw turtles, alligators, birds, spiders, typos, zebras — that’s not a typo. And who could forget our silly questions like what would you do if Satan worked at a fast food joint or who in your family would you prefer to be conjoined to. I’ll never forget those awesome hikes we had.
We then took a mischevious route down memory lane at Teeny Reeny’s old middle school, Lakeview, nearst Windermere. Apparently, her former stomping grounds included haunted swimming pools, showstopping theatrical displays and brick walled recountenances of friendly Spanish teachers. (Ironic, considering the school is now a World Languages Magnet.)
After rehopping the fence and nearly being on the run of our lives for infiltrating the school auditorium, á la Five Nights at Freddy’s, we brought our adventourous last day of the year to a close by way of being en route to my home.
During this time, we did manage to talk of personal topics, which affirmed that I had an amazing friend who cared about me truly. This, in turn affirmed a warm smile on my face.
It’s these type of people you oughta keep around. Because then, you can give back and show them, whether in need or well-pleased, just how large of an impact they made on your life, not making you uncomfy.