Da Count - Bumping Into Old Friends

"Make new friends, but keep the old
One is silver and the other gold"
- (Scout Song -- also attributed to a poem from Joseph Parry)

Within the past month I've bumped into a couple of old friends that I haven't seen in years. And there's always something really heartwarming about that. One friend is from my elementary and high school days back in Levack, and another from my Theatre/Lighting Designer days in at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Greg Storey and I went to school together in Levack for my entire public and high school career, we played hockey together, bruised each other playing "fight for the hill" skipped classes together in high school and generally farted around a lot. He was one of those really cool guys who always knew the right thing to say and the right thing to do. He was also extremely funny and could always be counted on for an on-the-spot quick joke and laugh. Something I always appreciated about Greg was he was friendly and amiable with everyone. I was a big nerd through high school (hell, I'm still a giant nerd, some things never change) but Greg always included me in activities that the cool kids were up to.

We parted ways after graduation and I honestly can't remember us bumping into each other since high school. We've exchanged a few emails and learned that we now live merely 40 minutes away from each other. It has been really fun to catch up on the joys and successes of this old friend.

Here's a recent picture of my old friend Greg.
(Damn I hate the fact that he has aged so well and still has lots and lots of his hair)

A few weeks ago I also bumped into an old friend from University, Sharon Klassen. We graduated the same year at Carleton (very close to each other in the grad line-up because it was funny that despite the fact I didn't know her at the time, she was in a few of the pictures of my heading up to get my diploma) -- Sharon and I met at a Sock'N'Buskin reunion function in Ottawa (I was working it as a technician and she was assisting in another area). We struck up a friendship immediately, and I'll never forget the time when I was doing lighting design for the stage play version of Lolita (Edward Albee) - Sharon had taken dozens of photos of cheesy motel signs that I'd used in the backdrop covering the travels of Humbert Humbert and Lolita. I still have the slides.

I bumped into Sharon, her husband and their cute little baby at Sears at Slimeridge Mall a few weeks ago. She teaches drama at Redeemer College right here in Hamilton. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the shows that she'll be helping to produce there in the years to come.

This week, I'd like to count BUMPING INTO OLD FRIENDS -- new friends, old friends, and bumping into old friends you haven't seen in many years. All things that make a person much much richer.