What If?

It was weird. I got 2 phone calls last week from former Einstein's colleagues, both on the same day, one right after the other. Usually if this happens, there's some Einstein's gossip or happening that is just waiting to be shared. But last week, there was no gossip. It was purely coincidence.

When I worked for Einstein's, I was mainly by myself out on the road. While out on the road, though, I would usually talk to at least one of my colleagues during the day. It was time to exchange information, commiserate, and chat. Despite not being in an office setting and not seeing people on a regular basis, I made some really good friends. The 2 guys I talked to last week were my on-the-road family, especially when we would actually have the opportunity to be together. We joked at the time that the one could be my brother and the other could be our dad. We took on our familial roles accordingly.

I am grateful that I still talk to these friends. But these 2 phone calls also set my mind thinking in the past week about old friends, particularly those whom I no longer talk to. I started getting philosophical when the question "What If?" came to mind. What if in the sense of what if I still talked to _____, or what if I never moved to Michigan and never met _____, or what if I never went to Marquette. I sort of daydream this way, imagining what life would be like with or without people that are/have been in my life.

Don't get me wrong. I don't have any regrets for friendships that have gone to the wayside. I like to think that I have no regrets in life. It is what it is, and we have to be at peace that what happens is what is supposed to happen. "Everything happens for a reason". I think that a lot of the people in one's life come in and out at appropriate times. There are also some that stay for a long time, and can endure the changes and distances and time. I treasure those friends tremendously.

Okay, enough with the philosophy of it all. I should've taken my own advice that I wrote about before. I should leave all philosophy work up to Rick.