Friends far and wide.

[temporus]

This morning, as I was driving to work, I heard a news report on the BBC about troubles in Bangladesh.  I'm hardly qualified to discuss the details of what is going on there, but it made me wonder about a good college friend of mine, Nasrullah Khaled, who went by the nickname Pablo.  Certainly my thoughts go out to him, and his family, to hope that they remain free from harm during this period.

Strange, but it's been more than a decade since we've seen each other, but I still think of him as a good friend.  Perhaps because he was the kind of individual who inspires friendship with his humble bearing.  Perhaps it is because he was one of the key people I knew in my life that helped me expand my horizons and gain an appreciation for Muslims and their faith.   He is the kind of man, that if I were to never meet and know personally another Muslim, that he has earned my respect for all.   

I've been fortunate, recently, that some of our far flung friends have had occasion to visit us so soon after our child's birth.  One good friend who relocated to Minnesota, just happened to have a wedding in NJ that weekend, and was able to even visit us in the hospital.   The only shame, is that his wife and children had not been able to join him, as I know we would have loved to see them all again.   Also another good friend who has relocated to Illinois to attend Law School happened to be out here on break for only a week, and was able to visit.   I know too soon, that one of my wife's good friends who is currently in Alaska will be on the east coast in just a few short months, and we will be able to visit with her as well.   

I've had a lot of good friends over the years.  My wife and I are blessed with a good number that we are still able to maintain active friendships with, both local, and some remote, some new and some old.  Yet life sometimes takes you on different paths, and on roads that never cross again.   I doubt that any of them will find this little corner of the web to hear it, but I wish them all the best in their endeavors.  And I think of them, on occasion, hoping that all is well.