The Companion Who Refused To Be Left Behind
A Special Friend Or?
What is my first memory of this special life-long companion of mine? Hard to say really, it is as if one day he was just there, waiting to be acknowledged. Certainly by the time I started high school, he was with me all the time. He was irritating and had no sense of humor. I tried my best to leave him behind whenever I could, but he was tenacious.
Whether strolling down the crowded boulevard at a nearby beach, or at party surrounded by friends, even at home despite the buffer of my large family, he would always find a way to make his presence known. It was as if he were daring me to rid myself of his company once and for all. But I never was able to do so. More often than not, I gave into him, and tolerated his being around. Why? This written reflection is my attempt to answer that question.
The only time that offered some respite from him was when I attended Mass at my local church. Whether he left me alone there out of common decency, or because churches made him nervous, I never found out.
Ah the pain my dealings with him brought me! Sometimes it was acute and debilitating. At other times, it was more like an ache that would ebb and flow, but always enough to let me know that it hadn’t gone completely away. There was, however, a whisper of the possibility…
