Monday, January 13, 2014

Visit with Manny

I got a call from my cousin's ex-husband Manny, telling me he and his girlfriend were going to be in my area for the weekend, and wanting to know if Spouse & I would like to meet them for dinner on Sat.

My cousin and I were very close until our mid-20s.  That's when she fell in love with Manny, who was not a Jehovah's Witness like us, got pregnant, and was disfellowshipped/ex-communicated.  JWs in good standing are not permitted to associate with those who are disfellowshipped, even if they are family, so I had to shun my cousin.  Some time later my cousin was reinstated and I was happy to once again spend time with her and her new husband, Manny.  But just a few years later is when I decided to 'come out' and leave the JW religion, which resulted in my being disfellowshipped.  That pretty much ended my ability to associate with my cousin.

A couple of years ago my cousin and Manny split up, and I ran into him at a wedding.  He seemed genuinely happy to see me, and I was happy to see him as well.  I always thought of him as a very nice guy; gentle and very laid back.  Pretty much the opposite of my cousin.  We friended each other on facebook.

So it was a pleasant surprise to hear that he was going to be in town over the weekend, and I readily accepted the invitation to join him for dinner.  The conversation flowed easily for the 4 of us.  Since we'd only met his girlfriend once, we learned more about her.  She is a yoga instructor and has her own studio.  Manny is a mechanic who specializes in German cars like Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz, and Porshe.  They are both in a band that plays local gigs in their area, and since Manny had seen my "Legends" postings on facebook, we talked a lot about music and performing.  We also discussed family, pets, travel, cars, and Spouse's work.

We had a really nice time and I was genuinely surprised to find that 3 hours had elapsed.  Spouse & I invited them to come back and stay with us anytime they wanted a get-away, and they said they would.


2 comments:

Unknown said...

Nice how relationships can be like the sea -- waves come in, waves go out, one wave seems to bring another wave. We may be sad to see one go but another comes in its place, and maybe the new one bears some of the old within it.

Or something profound...

Facing Traffic said...

People surprise you just when you least expect it.. and sometimes for the better