For Grant: "The Ties that Bind"

No, we haven't all become Mormon missionaries. . .These are the 7th and 8th grade boys sporting the ties that their former teacher and my former colleague Grant Graves sent us.

Grant mentioned to me an a recent e-mail that he wasn't sure what would happen when he moved back to the Mainland--whether we'd drift apart or remain friends. He was glad to see that our friendship seemed to be going strong. I am too. I was actually more optimistic about that, I think, than he was, but I understand his skepticism too. We've seen so many people come and go over the years and for the most part, most of them have drifted out of our lives or hovered only near the very edges, moving back into closer orbit when we happen to be passing through Southern California or the pages of Myspace. Even some, like Big Will, my buddy from Chuuk who stood up at my wedding have disappeared off my radar. Whose to say how long Grant and I--and these boys--will manage to keep the connection going. It could be a year or five or, perhaps, a lifetime. We can't know for sure. Likewise it seems hard to believe that people that I hold dear now--who are daily part of what makes life fun and precious in Saipan--Mai, Jessica, Judith, Virle, the Piersons, and so many others, may someday be footnotes in my memory. I don't want that to be the case. It makes me sad to think of it.

But it gives me another reason to look forward to heaven, where friendships grow but never grow apart. I look forward to reconnecting then with all those wonderful people for whom the ties between us have slipped for now.