Coming and going

Last week during lockdown had a trade of friends - one left the unit while one came back.

It seems too often that a friend leaves around here. I've noticed myself almost subconsciously screening guys when I meet them. If you leave within the next few months, sorry, I don't want to get to know you just before you leave. However, if you'll be here more than a year, I'll hang out. Even out of the guys I've gotten to know pretty well, there have only been a few that have written even once after we separated.

When I showed up in the library for inventory, my boss told me that my good buddy, Lelan, had left the previous day. Lelan was a guy I had been in choir with earlier in the year and, for some reason, we just clicked. We spent time in the library when he needed encouragement and I would duck out and wander to the office where he worked if I needed a pick-me-up of my own. My boss said he would be back in a couple weeks, which I hope is true. I'm going to miss our conversations on life if he stays gone.

On the flip side, the same day that Lelan left, my close friend OJ came back. I thought he had left in parole, but he only went to have a chat in person with some parole folks. When he was her in my pod, he would make sure my laundry came out white like the other laundry workers' clothes. In the time he's been gone my clothes have gotten a bit dingy, so, for that reason it's good to have him back. Really though, I'm hoping he gets back to the dorm soon so we can game again.