I woke up early and said good bye to the kids, spent the morning with my hosts, and visited my friend who is recovering from stage 4 lung cancer.  We thought he was a goner more than once, but his strong spirit and love for life keeps lifting him back to the living.  It was a great way to leave the tropics of Miami, my heart full and belly full, to meet my friend Eli.

I have known Eli for more than 10 years now.  He was one of the 1^st people I met when I moved back to Atlanta in 2018.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to live in Atlanta, I had sworn never to live there when I was a kid growing up.  However, when I returned, deciding whether or not this would be my home once again, I decided to put my heart into it.  And now, after developing my amazing community and life, I can’t imagine calling anywhere else Home.  I often say I’m like a migratory bird.  I fly away, but I always come back.  Eli is one of my rewards of investing time in Atlanta and the community which has resulted from that.

Eli had been living the van life for over 2 years.  He is bicoastal, crossing the United States already 7 times in the 2 years he’d been on the road.  He was on his 2^nd Sprinter Van, both of which he had built out himself.  He had a full kitchen, a full sized bed, hot water, a hot spot to connect to wifi, even an electric piano which he was practicing regularly and becoming proficient.  He was who I looked to when I decided if I should hit the road, asking him loads of questions, airing my concerns, sharing my doubts.  My biggest concern had been loneliness.  I was still reeling from the loss of my dogs and job and I wasn’t sure being completely alone was the right thing for me.  But after 8 weeks on the road, loneliness was not a thing.  My days and nights had been filled with celebration and friendship, my time alone, by choice.  I felt more social and surrounded by people than when I lived at home.  Everyone was excited to see me, everyone made time for me, everyone opened their homes to me.  I felt so loved and supported. 

Eli and I had juggled dates that we could meet, Eli having a real job that he worked Monday to Friday from the little office nook he had created in his van, friends and family that he planned to meet, and things he wanted to do juxtaposed against my calendar which had nothing but open road and going with the flow.  It proved to be a tiny challenge, but we had soon set the date and I was almost there.

He had instructed me to text him 15 minutes before my arrival so we could meet at the park entrance and I could follow him to his camping spot.  I was so engrossed in the beauty of the area around me I completely missed the turn.  It turned out to be a good thing.  As I crossed a bridge from the forest to the marshland, the dense canopy of trees opened and the earth and the sky sprawled out before me bathed in the colors of light of the setting sun.  It was glorious and the timing perfect.  With quick coordination, Eli was soon beside me celebrating the passing of a wonderful day and the reunion of 2 friends.

After my tent was set up, and dinner was consumed, (Eli a formidable vegan cook of deliciousness), we spent the evening simply together.  People say that men and women cannot just be friends.  Here I am prone to disagree.  Although I have deep attraction, both mentally and physically to many of my male friends, the bond of friendship reaches far beyond this.  There are many men whom I love deeply and who love me deeply, mutual attraction, a want to be together, yet the importance of our friendship far outweighs the possibility of negating it with a wayward kiss or lustful touch.  Eli is one of these men in my life.  Through not jeopardizing our friendship, our trust has grown profoundly.  I feel like I can tell him anything, ask him anything, rely on him for relationship advice.  Our friendship never falters because we never falter on our agreement.  Not to say that there’s not temptation, I mean, have you seen Eli?  Deeply handsome and mentally astounding, to know Eli is to adore him.  And I do.  I am grateful for the person he is in my life and the positive influence he has on the world around him.  He is an inspiration to follow your dreams and live the life you want, to create your own reality, to choose whatever you want and become good at it.  Observing him while I was visiting him was a constant reminder to be brave, honest in who I am, live with integrity, and be adventurous. 

I am so grateful for the friendships I have.  When I look out into the world, I see my friends looking back at me.  Their hearts are filled with simple love and acceptance as is mine when I look at them.  The people I surround myself with continually inspire me.  What about the people who surround you?  Do they inspire you?  Do they love you just for who you are?  Each one of us deserves this kind of love and friendship.  You, you reading this, you are worthy of that kind of love and friendship.  You are worthy of joyful loving relationships.  Today is the day you start creating them.  Let everything else go.