Long term friendships are priceless

I am not crazy about imitating a TV ad, but "priceless" is the term I use for an experience I had this week. Ostensibly, the priceless experience was going to the Wednesday practice round at the site of The Masters Golf Tournament, which is held every year in Augusta, Georgia, and is perhaps the most popular of the four "major" golf events of professional golf for men. And yes, the course and setting of Augusta National Golf Club is absolutely stupendous in its splendor, even though the blooms of the vaunted azaleas that we always see on television had already fallen off due to the early spring this year. Furthermore, as I have heard frequently over the years, television cameras just don't adequately portray how "up and down" the terrain is. Believe me, my knees can tell you that it is amazingly so! There is not a flat place on the course anywhere.

Now for the "ostensibly" part. The real priceless experience was doing all this with one of my "longest" friends, Mike Walsh, who I have known for approximately 44 years, but with whom I actually connected 41 years ago. That connection took place late one night in Lubbock, Texas, a place where we happened to be because we played on the same semi-pro baseball team in the state tournament. In those days it was always held in Lubbock. At the time I was 24 and Mike was just fresh out of high school, and at his initiation, we got into a really deep and personal discussion while spending the night in a hotel room occupied by at least one other guy as we always slept many to the room as none of us had any money. Semi-pro baseball was much more "semi" than "pro." Throughout the years, we have at times been in close proximity to each other, and at other times not so much, but whenever we get together it is as if our never ending conversation had really never ended.

A year or so later, Mike was in the military, but we corresponded some through letters, and by the time he came out of the army, I was coaching college baseball in West Texas, and recruited him to play for me, which he did for 2 or 3 years, then helped me coach for a year while he finished his college degree. He also married a young woman, Barbara, that he met while stationed in Germany, and I was honored to be his best man in their wedding that took place shortly after he came back to the states. By the way, they still are married.

Many of you know exactly what I'm writing about, as you have had friendships over the years that are similar. I feel deep sympathy for those that have never experienced this kind of connection. My wife, Bonita, has a friend, Sonie, a devilish minister's daughter, that began when they were 4 or 5, and even though they live across the country from each other, their connection has never waned. My son, Dustin, has a friend, Joey, and they have been inseparable friends since the cradle, literally! In addition, my youngest daughter, Lyndie, has had a great friend, Shawn, who I fondly call "the little heathern," because of her brash ways, since they were 4 or so. I can't imagine that any of these will ever lose touch.

Being the fools we are, Mike and I drove the 950 miles to Augusta, thereby having lots of windshield time to interact, and we did so in all facets, from listening to music, telling stories, sharing the past, and confiding safely with each other, which we have done since that night in Lubbock 4 decades ago. And there is one final element that I share with all really good friends: laughter. We enjoy giving each other a hard time and we at times laughed so hard that we hurt. He thinks he is a great driver, and he is until we encountered rain, which we did many times. Only then, and I swear this is true, does he tailgate the car or motor cycle rider in front of us at a high rate of speed! Scared me to death! And of course, I bothered him when I drove as I have trouble keeping my pickup between the lines, so to speak. We both stated that we feel real sorry for each others wife. Regardless, we made it home late on Thursday afternoon.

To sum it up, I texted him the following at 9:30 Thursday night: "Michael, I thank you for a phenomenal 3 days. Just couldn't have been better! A sacrament for an incredible friendship that has warmed me many times for more than 40 years." And his reply to me I will treasure forever: "I am grateful that you were able to take this "once in a lifetime journey with me. I laughed more in 2 ½ days than I have in 2 ½ years! We have a lasting chemistry that is very special to me. One that I have rarely shared with another humanoid! I can't thank you enough for making my 'bucket list' journey the best it could possibly be! I cherish our friendship beyond any expression of words...."

Doug Smith is a licensed professional counselor. Contact him at 972-436-6227, doug@ccclewisville.com or visit his website at ccclewisville.com

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