Feliz Día del Amor y la Amistad. In countries like México and Venezuela, the 14th of February isn’t just St. Valentine’s Day, it’s also a day to celebrate love and friendship. I’m choosing to celebrate friendship today…
Oso and I met up on Sunday during his brief return to LA. If you blinked, you would have missed him. I’m glad I didn’t blink because it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Oso.
We had dinner at Versailles, a Cuban restaurant in my neighborhood, and discussed things like the science of falling in love and MHC, his work in Colombia, the politics of tú and usted, and my penchant for playing the same song a dozen times in a row.
I was in the middle of briefing him on a situation when he called me on my bullshit (like a good friend should do!):
Oso: You need to call.
Me: *Gulp* No… I can’t. I’m passive aggressive.
Oso: There’s nothing aggressive about you. You’re just passive passive.
Me: Ouch.
We finished up our tasty dinner, grabbed some espresso at the Coffee Bean and then headed to Union Station. I briefly forgot how to get there*, but thanks to Oso’s trusty iPhone we found our way. I dropped him off at Union Station with enough time for him to catch his train. As we hugged, I told him, “I’ll see you in another 9 months.”
“It’s not gonna be that long,” he said.
I hope it’s not that long, but it actually doesn’t matter. See, Oso is one of those friends I can go months without seeing. (This is not to say I don’t miss him.) When we finally get together for tea or lunch, it doesn’t feel like it’s been month since our last encounter. We just pick up where we left off.
*This is troubling. I’ve been forgetting my way around downtown and East LA lately.