Tomato Basil Mozzarella Cheese sandwich

Moments are created. Friendship is developed.


Shared the news of my upcoming surgery with a friend today. I just got the date solidified. He said, "Do you need anything?" I looked at him, and was taken aback. I was not used to receiving help from men, so I said, half jokingly, "Maybe chicken soup?" He said, "Maybe, if that's what you need."

It was raining, we sat outside on a bench, I began to eat a tomato basil mozzarella sandwich with toasted bread drizzled with overly abundant balsamic vinaigrette.

A woman across the street started a shouting match with a man who drove a truck right into her Audi's bumper. Man did not say sorry so the woman was getting angrier.

"Holidays always bring the worst in people." We watched this unfortunate episode unfolding right in front of our eyes.

"Dating is hard." He said. A good looking man in his 30s with a good education and a decent job should not be saying that.

"Haven't you learned anything?" I asked.

"You sounded like a professor." He quipped.

We sat quietly as I picked with my hand of the remaining basil, and then the mozzarella cheese, and finally the last piece of tomato. The bread was getting soggy and unappetizing. I dropped my folk, then my hat, finally the sad soiled napkin.

I told him that I've been out of breath lately, feeling pounding headaches, and often dizzy at times, and consequently have not been working out.

Suppose I do need that extra pair of hands. Suppose after surgery I could use a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup. Suppose I would welcome his visit in Alta Bates. So I told him about the date and time of the surgery. "Saul's on Shattack, matzo ball soup with chicken is my favorite." I added.

Perhaps at the end of the day we don't care about that blind adoration and empty promises, and we simply wanted friends who cared about us, and could sit quietly with us, watching the world go by, even though nothing seemed perfect in our own lives, we still know, there is a shoulder we could lean on, and when we hit that "send" button for that text, message, or email, we know we'd hear from them, because at the end of the day, it's friends that mattered the most, and you know that you mattered to them, and they you.