Last Goodbye
I had my last hangout with Sara W before she moves to Denver in a couple of weeks last night. Appropriately, as this is generally the only thing (outside of Birth Week activities) that we tend to do with each other outside of work, we went to see a movie.
At first I was thinking I'd either have to meet her at the Pacific Place 10 that used to be Landmark's Metro theatre in the U District, or I could catch a ride with her from work -- and then I realized: oh yeah, duh, last Friday was her last day at work. The showtime was at 4:15 so I left work at 3:30 to give me time to ride my bike up there.
I didn't bother to tell anyone I'd be leaving early, although I did get to work between 20 and 30 minutes earlier than usual both yesterda and today. I was slightly nervous about that, but today no one mentioned it so I guess no one gives a shit. The benefit of being on salary, I guess? I guess it depends on what people notice: Scott did give me a little shit once for being gone for lunch for nearly two hours, but even then he was just kind of yanking my chain I think.
I actually would have preferred the 7 pm showing, to be honest, but Sara never, ever goes for anything but the showtimes between 4 and 6. I got the sense that if I didn't accept the 4:15 showing she wanted, then she just would have said she wouldn't be able to make it. So, I made it work.
We saw First Reformed with Ethan Hawke, which we both expected to be better than either of us ultimately found it to be. I was ready to give it a B- but as I wrote out the review, I realized I was really reviewing a movie I should give a C+ at best. After all, I usually say that although I only bother to recommend movies I give B+ or higher, I feel like B- or higher is still worth my time . . . I'm not even sure this was worth my time. Which is odd, because it's been very critically acclaimed. I just had a hard time feeling it as authentic storytelling, as someone who has actually gone through the process of a "crisis of faith," which is largely what this movie is about. It feels like a movie by and for liberals but ostensibly about conservatives, which honestly strips if of its authenticity -- at least assuming the people who made the movie have no direct experience with Christian religious living. You kind of need that, even if you no longer are a believer, to write characters who feel real. It just didn't ring true to me.
Sara pretty much agreed with me, so basically we were both disappointed in it. It was still great to see her one last time, though, and saying goodbye to her afterward, after we discussed the movie for several minutes, was certainly different. This was a real goodbye -- although we both feel better knowing we'll see each other again, as I fully intend to visit her in Denver. I did tell her that it's not likely I'll be able to make it this year, but I specifically promised that it will be no later than next year -- so, still not too far away.
She had a pretty sad vibe about her anyway, saying her final goodbye to me before she walked away. It made me chuckle nervously, being in that position -- where she was clearly the sadder about it, of the two of us. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly sad to see her go too, and will miss her a great deal. It also makes sense for her to be the more emotional one, as I am hardly the only one she cars about she's been having to say goodbye to. She's about to make a huge move after something like three decades in Seattle. Even though she's going back to where she's from originally, and will be closer to family again, that's a lot of history to be walking away from. It made me think of how difficult and genuinely painful for me if I had to move away from Seattle. Even though I pondered it when Shobhit lived in New York and in Los Angeles, I still can't truly imagine it. Seattle is my true and forever home. For Shobhit, home is just wherever I am. That's sweet, but not a specific feeling I can quite reciprocate. With Shobhit, it's like I am his world. With me, Shobhit is simply a part of my world, which has many things of paramount importance in it. Shobhit is absolutely the most important thing in it, but there is also a lot of other things that share my loyalty. I've always had a difficult time imagining sacrificing my proximity to family and friends and this incredibly secure jobn for him. And he does ultimately understand that -- otherwise he wouldn't still be here with me.
So anyway, I rode my bike home from the U District, which took me back a bit, as it was the work commute I used to have before our office move in 2016. It's a mile longer but takes about the same amount of time, because I have so much more to weave through cutting through downtown now. It likely won't happen nearly as often now as it even has the past couple of years, and probably won't again for a long time -- Sara was typically the only reason I ever still saw any movies in the U District, and now she's moving away. With very, very rare exceptions, now every movie I want to see can be seen at a theatre either downtown, on Lower Queen Anne, or on Capitol Hill.
Shobhit evidently forgot that I was meeting Sara for a movie, and got a tad overbearing trying to figure out where I was at 5:30. I had to text him back in the theatre (there weren't many people in there, no one saw my screen), after he texted me and tried to call me. I need to remind him that there is a link to my social calendar in Google Calendar right here on this website, and he can always check that when he doesn't remember where I've gone. If he keeps trying to get a hold of me with this unnecessary sense of urgency, I'm going to stop taking his calls and texts in these circumstances seriously, and then when something truly urgent is happening I won't take that seriously either.
After I got home, Shobhit had gotten maps and tour books for Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, and for Yellowstone National Park. It looks like now on Monday we might take a slight detour to Bozeman, Montana on our trip from Wallace, Idaho to West Yellowstone, to see the Museum of the Rockies there. It only adds 27 miles, or apparently 40 minutes according to Google Maps, to the trip. Cumulative seven hours of driving, roughly, but broken up nicely by the visit at Bozeman. I'm surprised Shobhit is interested in a musuem at all, but I guess he'd like to see the full dinosaur skeletons featured at the Museum of the Rockies. It does look pretty cool.
We then made burgers for dinner, using falafel patties in between mini naans from QFC. It was pretty tasty. I went to write the movie review, we watched this week's episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and that pretty much sums up the evening.
[posted 12:35 pm]