goodbyes

i don't prefer goodbyes. some people say...it's not goodbye, it's see you later.

that's bologna. and i'm a vegetarian so i'm not eating it at all.

tomorrow (friday) is brent's last day. brent is one of my dearest friends in omaha. he was a surprising friend. steph told me that he was an extreme introvert.

extreme introvert? game on.

we talked over meals, video games, movies, books. we had heated discussions about friendships, introversion, extroversion, directions, lisa's radial cafe vs. 11worth cafe. we laughed a lot. shared inside jokes. traveled. he convinced me not to give up.

he's been encouraging and inspiring.
brent lives his life with such integrity. i have deep respect for him.

there are so many memories i have of brent...i'll start with just a few. i'm sure i'll break out some more tomorrow.

- traveling to sri lanka together. we had a layover in hong kong. i was cranky and tired. and irritable. and couldn't be helped. hong kong was rainy and our traveling companions wanted to take a walking tour of the city. i didn't want to but we did. brent bought me a simple blue umbrella. i still have it. brent has a gentle way of diffusing situations, knowing exactly what people need.

- on that same trip we had a stopover in bangkok. during this stop, the flight attendants had to check passengers against luggage. we were both sleeping, but i somehow got woken up by their voices. they tried to wake brent up, but it wasn't working. with morning voice, i grumbled BRENT. my voice traveled two rows and immediately woke brent from his slumber. he identified his luggage.

- hearing some of his famous stories for the first time. immediately after hearing it for the first time i would ask him to repeat. he would.

- in high school i perfected the pouty lip quiver. i'm not sure what inspired it, but it is brent's kryptonite. there have been many times when i've convinced brent to let the office get icecream or to send me my support update...and all i've had to do is break it out. brent has a soft heart and sensitive spirit. i will miss that.

- i sometimes play video games. that was one of the things that i knew i could connect on with brent. my brother and i would spend hours figuring out how to finish video games. i spoke the lingo. so. brent became my video game partner. tony hawk. halo. rollercoaster tycoon. you name it.

- cooking. for awhile i tried to help brent eat healthier. he would buy the groceries and i'd make a meal and take it to work for him. that didn't last long. i did make pizza and lasagna.