Friendship does not come easily to me, I have lost friends to time, distraction, geography, stupidity, suicide and my own wariness.  In my experience, men do not take friendship seriously or make much room for it in their lives, except perhaps, in combat. I do not make friends easily or often, and I don’t say that with pride. Friendship is important to me, I just know that with men, it is difficult to come by.

I don’t really look for it, I am suspicious of it. Men put almost everything ahead of it, and they drop it precisely when they need it the most.

Maria says that Ed Gulley I are twins, separated at birth. She says she reminds each of us of the other. I’m not sure what she means, except that Ed has become one of my closest friends and one of the most cherished.  Ed is a loving and honest and very authentic human being and I feel I can say anything to him, and he can say anything to me. And we do.

We are not wary of one another, we are not sensitive with one another. We are both natural story-tellers. He tells his on his very special blog, the Bejosh Farm Journal, a new thing for him, but a natural one.

Ed, like me, wants to tell the story of his life to the world, and does so fearlessly and without hesitation. I am talking to Connie Brooks about Ed reading from his blog at our local bookstore, I think she will like the idea. He has the most amazing stories to tell.

This afternoon, I initiated the New Year the way friends should, I sat with Ed in his living room and talked for a couple of hours about life, work, aging, generosity and blunders and mistakes. We talked about listening, about the wonder of growing older. It was lovely, I was reluctant to join their family day, I was sorry to leave.

He is an artist, and a natural if self-taught writer and that is perhaps the best kind. On the surface, Ed and I have nothing in common, yet it seems we have everything in common, and I can’t really explain it. If I were in trouble, I would call him in a moment, and I would never doubt for a second that he would understand and be there for me.

He has a deep and wise sense of humor and perspective on life, like me, he is willing to take on great change and challenge late in life. That is a rare thing, especially men. We just get one another, sometimes there is no explaining it. Ed’s face is full of character and humor and life. He is a wonderful photographic subject, just like his wife Carol.