When We Were 19, My Best Friend and I Promised That If We Were Both Single at 60, We’d Find Each Other – I Turned 60 Last Tuesday, & My Old Landline Rang

My mother, Erica, used to watch us at the kitchen table arguing over homework and say, “One day, the two of you are going to figure this out.”

Jeffrey would grin.

“Figure out what?”

Then he’d look at me. I’d roll my eyes.

“We’re friends, Mom.”

That was the truth. Or at least it was what we were willing to admit.

Losing my best friend scared me more than dating him ever excited me. I think he felt the same way. So we kept things simple.

Until one summer night when we were 19.

We’d both had terrible dates. Mine spent two hours talking about himself.

Jeffrey’s date left early after arguing with him about a movie.

We met at our old high school football field afterward. The gates were open, so we climbed under the bleachers and sat on the grass.