My Friend Joshua (Part 1)

Prologue

Back in my college days, many years ago, I met a guy who I will call Joshua for the purposes of this story.  Joshua is hard to describe.  He was't popular, he wan't unpopular. He could blend into any situation without being in the spotlight or even being noticed.

And yet, something about him was different.  He would make people feel special without making a big fuss and without the personal agenda that so many of us seem to have.  He had the type of personality that was just plain likable.

It is now twenty-five years later and I still struggle to understand how people didn't like him.  And when his sickness developed, they became downright nasty.

I will attempt to tell the story as it involves me but in full disclosure, I have changed a few details as these events took place many years ago, over a 3 year period and to protect the identity of certain people involved.

Freedom and Physics

College was quite the change from high school.  After years of being with a bunch of people I knew in a small school, I was now one of many in a big pond.

The biggest change for me was that there was nobody to make sure I attended a class or did my school work, except myself.  After years of being told when and where to be, I was enjoying this new freedom.  Perhaps a bit too much as my grades would eventually show.

The education program I entered was a science track.  I really had no idea what I wanted to do for a career but enrolled in courses which could lead to an engineering degree.  I was amazed at the wide range of students enrolled in the classes I was attending.  For the most part, people were there to learn and pursue higher education.

I met Joshua in a physics class and we hit it off pretty quickly.  He impressed me with his ability to speak confidently with the professor and at the same time, carry on a conversation with me without making me feel inferior.

Prior to college, I did not like the study of physics.  I had always enjoyed high school chemistry classes better. This changed the day our professor asked a question to challenge our programmed thought processes.

There were some big and beautiful trees just outside the second story classroom that we were seated in.  He went over to the window and asked us to tell him how many leaves were on the tree.  Immediately numbers started flying from the mouths of the keeners in the class.  Most of the numbers were absurd, in the millions or hundreds of thousands.

Our professor diligently wrote all the numbers down on the board.  I looked over at my friend Joshua and he was grinning.  The professor must have noticed it too as he asked Joshua if he had a guess.

"There are 4,736 leaves on that maple tree".

Now truthfully, I don't remember the exact number he said but I do remember that it was a precise number.

The professor added Joshua's number to the list.  He then proceeded to teach an analytic approach of determining the number of leaves on the tree.  A process I've learned to use in many different aspects of my life ever since.

My mind was now experiencing it's own form of freedom, breaking barriers that had been imposed.

Of all the numbers the professor had written on the board, Joshua's number was the only number anywhere remotely close to the estimated number. And in fact, surprisingly close.

Hanging Out

Whenever we weren't in class, students just hung out. It wasn't like high school where we raced out the doors when the bell rang. We had the freedom of time.

There were many options to lounge or relax including the cafeteria, the atrium with the comfy couches, in the library while studying for the next test or outside on a nice day sitting on the grass soaking up the warm sun.

I would see Joshua hanging out with different groups, he never seemed to just stick with one crowd.  My group of friends always seemed to be the same.  If I did see him, he would always have a big smile and ask me how I was doing, genuinely interested in my response.

One day while lounging on the couches, I saw a girl I hadn't seen in years.

I had met her in the hospital a few years earlier.  I was in for an appendix removal and the nurses came to ask me if I knew a Ruth Watt.  Another patient with the same last name?!  I wasn't related to her and did not know her but we ended up talking for quite a long time and got to know each other well.

The day I saw Ruth at college, she was with my friend Joshua. We talked and quickly shared our stories of the past couple of years.  And then I discovered that she was heading to Africa for a couple weeks.  Joshua was also going!

Was there anybody Joshua didn't know?

The Rescue

The freedom that college presented me extended into my personal life.  I started exploring things that make me cringe to think of today, but I was growing up and well, they happened.

One of the freedoms I started exploring was drinking.

For the most part, I was a responsible drinker.  One night I wasn't so responsible.  I was at a party for the staff of a restaurant I worked at.  One of our co-workers was heading to Australia for 6 months. I drank to the point of passing out and do not remember most of the evening or even who was there.

The next morning, I woke up on the floor dressed in work clothes.  More specifically, a uniform for a waitress in the restaurant.  My hair, face and nails were done up as well.

My friends from work had a good laugh over that.  As the fog cleared, I tried to get more details over what happened and what they may have done to me.

With some annoyance, they told me that my friend Joshua had shown up and had stopped them from doing anything too crazy.  They said he took me out for a walk to try and sober me up.

I could tell my friends were not happy with  Joshua.

***** To Be Continued *****

The next issue will reveal a situation when Joshua gets upset, detail some troubling relationship situations and we will see glimpses of Joshua's sickness. 

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Part 2 is now available here.

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