There are people I have met in life, felt a connection, and said “Let’s get together again.”  Or “Let’s keep in touch”.  Or “Let’s not let so much time pass between our visits.” Our friendship may have started through fly fishing, or cycling, or work, or mutual friendships, or even family that lives far away.  After spending some time together in fellowship, the promise is made to reunite somewhere, sometime.  Often, life gets in the way.  Time passes.  The reunion is pushed back further and further until years have passed. 

I have just had the most amazing week. 

My friend Rainbow and I met about 20 years ago through an online fishing group, before the days of Facebook.  We had the opportunity to communicate online, via email, and even traveled to destinations with other friends in fly fishing to meet and fish.  Ten years back, she traveled to my home and we had a wonderful time together.  We promised to stay in touch, which we have.  I promised to visit her… which I had not.

Rainbow lives in British Columbia, Canada.  For many reasons, I did not schedule the trip.  Work, relationships, finances, and making the excuse that it I did not have time to make the trip.  As the years passed, we shared messages to one another, exchanged Christmas greetings, and kept a line tossed out to maintain our connection.  As my life has flowed over the past few years, I felt drawn to spending time with her and committed to making the reunion happen.

It is funny.  I have not seen Rainbow in a decade.  When I landed in Vancouver, got through immigration, collected my bag, exited the airport, and finally saw her smiling face, the years and miles between us collapsed to milliseconds.  We dove into conversation immediately and the words to one another flowed effortlessly.  It confirmed my sense that she and I are connected. 

Our time together was relatively short given our long separation.  Given I had never traveled to BC, Rainbow had an agenda that would maximize our time together and give me insight into her world in the few days we were allotted.  Once collected from the airport, she drove to the Vancouver Aquarium for a stroll, allowing me time to stretch my legs after a long “sit” across the continent.

The aquarium holds a fine collection.  As a fisherman, being able to observe fish swimming in the water at eye level is mesmerizing to me.  Rather than the “catcher”, I am caught in the graceful movement of those elegant creatures.  Despite the ethical dilemma that holding facilities such as aquariums and zoos evoke, I find them serving a higher purpose.  They provide a means of implanting reality to those looking in of a world otherwise unseen.

After the aquarium, I was invited to join Rainbow and her family for her birthday celebration at her daughter’s home.  Given the years we spent sharing stories of our lives, the characters of Rainbow’s stories came to life for me that evening.  I was given an opportunity to observe the part of her world that had been unseen, as I had only seen her as a fly fisherman.  Her daughter served a gourmet meal complete with a vegan, gluten-free chocolate raspberry cake that I can still feel exploding with flavor in my mouth.  She and her husband were gracious hosts, and their home along the water made me forget I was in such a large city. 

Surrounded by her family, I saw Rainbow in a different way.  I was reminded that sometimes we only see people in a snapshot.  For she and I, we shared fly fishing.  My memories of her were that of angler and fly tyer.  Here, she was mother, grandmother, and wife.  As I sat there, immersed in her world, I could see her influence and her spirit in her children and grandson.  I could feel the love shared between all of them, and I felt honored to have been invited into this sacred circle. 

After an incredible week of reconnecting, I know that this friendship is filled with an immeasurable amount of love and respect.  This woman knows me, and I know her.  We have been given a gift.  I promise to cherish it always.  I know she will do the same.

I know that she and I will not wait a decade to once again be in the same place at the same time.  We have promised to get together again and are already making plans to determine where and when that may happen.

I realize that making a promise to reunite with my family and friends is much more than the physical nature of being together.   I realize that there are few things more important that sharing fellowship with the people that make up my world.  I promise not to forget that.

I am eternally grateful to my friend Rainbow for keeping ahold of that line between us. 

I know we both promise not to let it grow so long.