52 New Friends

It was a beautiful evening in downtown Mesa.   Spring was just starting to melt into the heat of the summer.   I’d been invited to the Mesa Arts Center for their Season Preview, a rather exclusive event.   When I entered the theater, I had to take a moment to adjust my perception.   A group of round tables covered in white tablecloths were gathered onto the stage.   A flamingo dancer was performing to the sound of a solitary guitar.   I was in awe as I made my way up onto the stage, as if I were entering into the performance, itself.   I was standing in line for the buffet when someone from the Mesa Arts Center introduced Christine to me.   We both work in the same industry and had come to the event alone.   I’m sure it seemed like an easy pairing…and it was.   While we waited in the lengthy line, Christine told me she had only been in Phoenix for the past two and a half months.   She was working in San Diego when the opportunity came up for her to transfer to Phoenix, which

Charley has always been good at figuring things out. He was once traveling to Roswell, New Mexico.   His flight landed after the sun had set.   He rented a car and while driving down the long, narrow road into Roswell, he saw a mysterious glow in the sky that seemed to be following him.   Anyone that knows anything about Roswell, New Mexico might think that Charley was experiencing a U.F.O.   But Charley doesn’t believe in such things.   He kept studying the eerie orb from his vantage point behind the steering wheel, wondering what exactly it could be.   When he finally reached the town, itself, he realized the glow was actually the city’s lights being reflected off the low-hanging mist.   The slight curvature of road he was traveling gave the impression that the lights were following him.   I asked him if he believed that this may have been the cause of a lot of U.F.O. sightings in the Roswell area.   And he said, ‘yes’. While in Roswell, he happened to meet the son of the n

People are fascinating to me.   Every time I sit down with someone new, I never know what to expect and the conversation always seems to take on a life of its own.   I met Shawn through a friend of mine who happens to be her hairstylist.   The three of us had hung out once before but this is the first time she and I had met one-on-one.   Some people you greet with a handshake because you can feel the emotional distance.   That’s normal.   Occasionally, you run into someone you immediately feel enough closeness with that a hug seems more appropriate.   And every now and then, you will run into someone you feel like you can immediately share your innermost secrets with.   A sort of love at first sight, I guess.   That’s how Shawn was for me.   Maybe with her infectious smile and warm personality, she’s like that for everyone.   It was how she met her husband. Immediately, we fell into a conversation of all the things we, as women, do to tear each other down. We started wi

My friend, Katie, was getting married.   At the end of March, she sent me at text that read:   “What is the name of your plus one?   We are doing the place cards and need to know.” I read the text like a deer in headlights.   Six months ago when I RSVP’d, I had a debate on whether or not to mark the plus one box.   I had decided to air on the side of optimism and I marked the box.   Six months later, and still single, I had no idea who I was going to bring.   “Well…” I stammered over text.   “I thought I still had some time.” “Well…”   Katie texted back.   “We are less than a month out now.   Soooo…we probably need to know…” I looked up at the sky and wiped both my palms all the way down my face….as if that was going to make me feel any better.   “I have an idea,” I texted back.   “You are the bride so tell me if this is going to ruin your wedding…but what if we put on the place card ‘Mystery Date’?   And then I’m not locked into anyone.” Katie texted back, “I love it!

Ben grew up in a Mormon family.   He and his twin sister were the middle children out of six.   Ben did all the things that good Mormon boys do.   When he was of age, he went on his mission.   He came back and got married.   He and his wife had three children who were perfectly planned exactly two years apart from one another.   Ben followed the scriptures.   He studied at night to get his bachelor’s degree online…and then his masters.   He was well liked among his fellow Mormons.   He was well liked by everyone.   So when Ben was asked to be a leader in his church, he graciously took the position.   It was a great honor. But one day, Ben consciously had a thought that should never have entered his religiously conditioned brain.   As devote as he and his family were to prayer and the scriptures, he could not find the answer to his prayers anywhere in his everyday life.   Ben didn’t voice this thought…but it was there, gnawing away at his faith.   He got to the point where in pr

This past Sunday, I attended an inspiring talk at ASU about the Power of Passion.   It’s an interesting topic and as I listened to each speaker, I realized living life is my passion.   You never know what it’s going to bring!   In the past, I have felt sorry for the generations that come behind me.   So many people talk about how the millennials and generation z are failing.   I’ve read articles about how technology has not prepared these generations for hard work…or life, in general.   It’s as if these generations lack passion.   And then, when I least expect it, my job takes me a direction that allows me to meet people in their twenties who have learned to harness their passion and succeed. Unfortunately, both of these people I’ve had the privilege to get to know live in the public eye, so to keep them anonymous I am going to call them ‘Ann’ and ‘Andy’. ‘Ann’ is a twenty-eight-year-old real estate agent.   She was on her way to get her master’s degree when she took a summer