During my recent visit to Portland, it was fun to run in to a couple friends who now live there.  Since I travel a lot, I’m always amazed to find a long lost friend (or two … or ten) who resides in the town I’m visiting. It’s like old home week and a mini reunion all in one.

I went to high school with Tammy Murphy.  And while she now goes by Tamara, she’ll always be Tammy to me. For a while we both lived in Kansas City before she headed off to the great northwest with her hubby. It’s easily been five years since I’ve seen her, so it was good to play catch-up.

Getting her to commit to a play date took an act of Congress.  When I suggested Tammy, er, Tamara, give me the nickel tour of her city after a delightful Saturday brunch, she couldn’t commit.  Imagine my surprise when she informed me she was taking a class on raising chickens. “So very Portlandia, huh?” she mentioned. Fortunately, I got to hang with her for happy hour and get properly caught up.  She, uh, did not bring any of her pet fowl along for the ride.

When I stumbled in to KC way back in ’99, Patrick Neal was one of the very first people I met. He and his posse were kind enough to take me under their wing and get me acclimated to the big city.  I will forever be grateful for his kindness, hospitality and ability to mock me on a moment’s notice.  Patrick was always the low-key one in the group …  the introspective one who stood around surveying the scene.  The boy was also blessed with some killer biceps. He had arms that looked like two halved-grapefruits were implanted in his arms.

Of course, when I invited him out in Portland, I wanted to make sure it was some place urban and trendy.  (I mean, he’s lived there for eight years … and I’d been there approximately eight minutes. I needed to impress.)  We started drinking mojitos at a local watering hole and made our way to one of Portland’s hip eateries … Pok Pok. I think they served Vietnamese food … or maybe it was Laotian? Regardless, there was a huge line at 2pm in the afternoon, so you just knew it was worth the wait. I think Patrick was impressed that I picked Pok Pok. How do I know this? Because he said, “Only you would pick a restaurant with an hour-long wait in the middle of the day.”  Yep, that’s me.

Imagine my ultimate surprise when my dear friend Anne State sent me a text while I was in Portland announcing she was also visiting. Anne and I go way, way back. We worked together in Des Moines. Since then she’s bounced around to St. Louis, San Diego, Chicago and Milwaukee. I’ve visited her in every city, so it made perfect sense that eventually we’d cross paths in some random town.  Anne and her sisters were visiting their folks for the Memorial Day weekend.

I cherish Anne’s friendship on a number of levels. For the first year we knew each other, I couldn’t stand her because I thought she didn’t like me. She, meanwhile, thought I didn’t care for her.  Go figure. Eventually, we buried the hatchet over a margarita.  Now when we order margaritas it’s to toast how we bonded.

Recently Anne has become a vegan, which is impressive on a number of levels. The first one being that the Anne I knew was a full-on carnivore. Consequently, we ate like rabbits when we met for happy hour.  Anne doesn’t know this, but eventually she and I will get married since we are both perpetually single. I’m sure she can put up with my narcissism just like I can put up with her neurotic tendencies. It’s a win-win for everyone.

All in all, Portland was a blast, highlighted by the fact that I got to see two long-lost friends and one unexpected blast from the past. If you’d like me to come visit you, just move away. It’ll happen. I promise.