Imagine

Last night, JJ had his buddy, Mark, sleep over. They sat close together, in one recliner, and watched TV while making comments to one another. Often their exchanges would begin with, “Imagine….”

“Imagine if you were a kid building a sandcastle and just saw a car drive out of the ocean. I would tell everyone, but people probably wouldn’t believe me.”

“Imagine if we were professional baseball players in the playoffs. It’d be awesome, but only if we were on the same team. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t know who to root for.”

“Imagine if you HAD to break a bone, which do you think would hurt the worst?”

“Imagine being a surfer. I would stick tape on the board to help me stay on.”

I loved it and kept eavesdropping. Never once did one say to the other, “That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.” No, since they are friends, they considered each other’s hypothetical situations with all seriousness, often citing potential obstacles and/or voicing enthusiasm and support.

During commercials, they would get up off the chair and ride on each others’ backs like mules across the floor. They laughed and fell and tried again, with the rider often encouraging the beast of burden - without spurs.

At one point, JJ felt hungry and he offered Mark a snack. They baked Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls.

After they fell asleep, I thought about their friendship. Staying close, carefully listening, refusing to ridicule each other’s ideas, completely believing the other can do whatever he imagines, carrying one another, and eating.

It's hard to imagine friendship better than that.