Friday, November 14, 2008

My Soul Wifey & 99 Red Balloons

My Soul Wifey & 99 Red Balloons
When she told me she was moving to Germany, I could only think of that 1984 tune by Nena – 99 Red Balloons. An eerie tune that didn’t have much meaning then – really, doesn’t hold much meaning to me now – but had a catchy tune. Marcia Rhodes a.k.a. My Soul Wifey was joining the love of her life in Germany; a move that would put her thousands of miles away and a time zone six hours ahead of mine. Marcia fast became one of my closest friends and confidants when we worked together in Washington, DC more than six years ago. The size zero beauty is more than 10 years my junior, but has such a wealth of wisdom, charisma and natural warmth that I couldn’t resist feeling instantly connected to her. Throughout the years she has been a Godsend; her advice level-headed yet stern; never agreeing just to agree; never blind to my feelings. Marcia appeared to always know what I was thinking – even when I was fuming and hollering or just silent from disappointment. In the end, I knew she had my back A couple of years ago we vacationed in Puerto Rico, staying at my parents house. We hit the beach and the clubs, making my birthday celebration that year one of the best ever. On our last night in Puerto Rico there was a power outage and Marcia and I slept together in the back room of my parent’s house. All the windows open we talked into the wee hours of the night, sweat beading on our foreheads. The Coqui – a frog indigenous to the island – sounded louder than crickets on our pillows. Marcia probably doesn’t recall, but she was also the one who with the most modest – yet thoughtful gesture – brought cupcakes to the office for my birthday on a day when she was off, making me tear-up at the thought of her making the time and effort to make my day special. To date, it is one of the most heartwarming birthdays I’ve had. Although I’m a bit sad to have my girl so far away, I’m extremely happy for her. She deserves all the happiness in the world. Greg – her fiancé- should thank his lucky stars that I’m gay as a fruit basket or he would have the competition of a lifetime. I miss you Marcia….
99 dreams I have had. In every one a red balloon. It's all over and I'm standing pretty. In this dust that was a city. If I could find a souvenir. Just to prove the world was here. And here is a red balloon; I think of you and let it go.

On Blast
Expensive gifts are eclipsed by thoughtful ones….your heart’s desires are satiated with quality, rather than quantity.
Name a gift you’ve received that holds/held little material value, but is priceless to you.

Keep passin’ the open windows…

5 comments:

Brothers Blog said...

This is a nice post. Great friends like this come once in a life time. Lol@ the gay as a fruit basket comment.


My gift came from a picture my son drew of us. Someone could have given me a million dollar check for that b-day but wouldn't have compared to that picture I have hanging on my fridge.

houstonmacbro said...

Friends are so hard to come by. I have made only 1-2 real friends (real friends) since being back in Houston. That has been 4 years!

Also, remember that the Internet and technology can keep you closer. There is email, text messaging (I think they call it SMS in Europe), video conferencing, Skype ... she has moved away, but technology can keep you guys present.

Shannon Lee said...

Due to the nature of my husband's work, winter can be a financially tough time for our household---he's in the construction industry--but I learned early-on that this was part of the package I was signing up for when I entered into this relationship nearly 16 years ago. The year after we started dating, my birthday came along (two days before Valentine's Day) and he was broke as he could be and was feeling REALLY less-than because he couldn't afford to do something extravagant for either of those special days. But he did manage to buy this little stuffed bear holding a rose and gave it to me with a letter he'd written. In this letter he told me how much he loved me and expressed his regret that money was so tight and how bad he felt that he couldn't do more at that time. He told me how much my presence in this world had changed his life and how he looked forward to better days where he could spoil me the way he wanted and we could start our family together. It was written on a sheet of regular old spiral notebook paper---nothing fancy---but nearly 15 years later, it remains the most priceless gift I ever received because it came from his heart and no one can duplicate THAT. (It also eliminated lack-of-money as being an excuse for not being on his J.O.B. on future birthdays or other gift-giving occasions! LOL)

This was a beautiful post baby. I know how much you love Marcia--she's a special lady--and definitely a soul-wifey made in heaven just for you. I wish her all the best... :) Love you Papi...xoxo

Achilles said...

Friends, true friends are invaluable. They're there for you sometimes even when your family isn't. There's no feeling like that of a true friend.

For me that would have to be a card from my son when he was in 2nd grade. He gave me a heart-shaped card for mother's day. In it he said "To a great dad on Mother's Day". It brought tears to my eyes. I still have it and read it every now and then.

Anonymous said...

Hello! I am a german boy, from time to time i read your blog! Now i must write! :-) More than 20 years ago, i was the biggest fan of nena! The germans are very proud about nena, that she hits the USA Charts... the german version is better ..99 Luftballons... :-)