Letter #64 - Ben

I seem to have a talent for understanding the misunderstood.  Ben and I became friends mostly because of this talent of mine.  Ben is often misunderstood.  He is hilarious, has a wicked dry sense of humour, and is super smart.  He's also a deeply caring person with an incredibly strong faith.  He's very set in his ways, and comfortable with that, and sometimes he struggles to express his passion in ways that don't come of as mean or pushy.  In spite of this, I get him.  Ben and I were housemates for several years and I absolutely loved living with him.  He was the kind of friend I could find myself trapped in conversation with for hours in the hall or on the stairs until we both realised we were supposed to be doing other things and would reluctantly head our separate ways.  I always knew when he was kidding, when he was serious, and when he was sleep deprived (usually because he would start making seemingly mean jokes about my virtue lol).  Ben and I developed a special friendship that I think will always make him one of those people in my life who no matter how long it's been since we've spoken or seen each other, time will stand still and we will pick up right where we left off.

I was bummed this year because I had to turn down an opportunity to spend a week with Ben chaperoning a mission trip for this year's spring break kids.  This event began when we lived together, and it was so awesome to be asked to come back and be a part of it again, it's just that life made it bad timing for me, so I had to say no.  I really hope I get another chance because I truly regretted having to say no.  The idea of getting to spend a week hanging out with Ben was awesome and I wish I had been able to jump on board.  Turning down the trip however did make me realise how much I've neglected my friendship with him these past few years, and made me want to change that for the future.  So I wrote him a letter and sent him some love.  I hope it proves to be a good first step toward restoring our contact and that it leads to more time together and fewer gaps inbetween.

So raise your glass with me... to Ben's glass eye!  :o)