Shannon shows up at 8:20 pm, twenty minutes late.
I met him in the fall of 1982. We lived a mile from each other, a mile outside of Auburn, CA.
I used to get rides to school with him. Shannon ran with the cool kids and I ran with Shannon.
He got married in 1986.
He’s with his wife Tammy tonight.
I haven’t seen them since 1991.
I last talked to Shannon in July of last year. He’s a prosecutor in Casa Grande, Arizona and his first name is now Rockne. (His brother Shawn, one year older, operates ExtraMileAmerica.com.)
In high school, Shannon was 6’3 and I was barely 6′. Now I’m over 6’1 and just an inch or so shorter than him.
"Hey, hey, hey, what’s up?" I say.
We shake hands. Shannon hugs me.
"Look at you buddy," he says.
I shake hands with Tammy and then we hug.
"How are you doing, man?" Shannon says.
"Good. How are you?"
"I could tell by his walk," says Shannon.
"What happened? You’re so tall," says Tammy.
"Yeah," I say. "I’ve been studying Alexander Technique.
"What’s the difference between us?"
Shannon and I line up.
"A couple of inches," says Tammy.
"It used to be four inches," I say.
"That’s amazing," says Shannon.
"Let me show you," I say.
"Are you going to crack my neck?" asks Shannon.
"No, it’s very gentle," I say. "You tend to slump and tip your head back."
We walk towards Pico Blvd.
"You always were 20 minutes late," I say.
"No," he says. "We hit all red lights."
"I’ve lived in this neighborhood for 12 years," I say. "I live in just enough space to park a car."
Shannon and Tammy note I have a lot of hair.
"I’m cutting it myself these days, trying to save money," I say. "I’ve always loved the mullet. I love 80s music and I love the mullet.
"You were into politics. You wanted to run for political office."
"That’s before I learned how abrupt it is," says Shannon.
"I Googled your name a lot over the years. I found this prosecutor in Washington State. That was you."
Shannon graduated from Gonzaga Law School in Spokane, Washington.
We eat dinner at Haifa restaurant. It’s their first time in a kosher restaurant. They get the chicken shish kabob and side orders of Israeli salad and vegetables. I get the falafal pita sandwich.
"You seem really happy," says Shannon. "You’re always smiling."
"You seem very peaceful," says Tammy.
"I went to yoga twice today," I say.
Tammy and Shannon do yoga regularly too. They have a DVD they work out to.
They order Diet Cokes. I order water.
I talk about the past year. My misadventures with women.
"I was with a girl. She was bi. She cheated on me with another woman. I didn’t think it would bother me and then I found out and I felt sick."
"In high school, we would’ve thought that was schwang," says….
"It’s not just the sex," I say. "It’s the things they talked about afterwards. During and after sex, you’re very intimate. You let down your guard and you speak from the heart. You’re willing to share everything. What was she talking about when she was hooking up with N.?
"I got off the phone pretty quick. I talked about it with my therapist. A couple of weeks later, I sent her an email saying I never wanted to talk to her again. I haven’t seen her or heard from her since."
After dinner (they pay!), we walk home past my yoga center and past the ashram.
"Are you ever going to settle down?" asks Tammy.
