Interview with Chris

Ladies and Gentlemen, your future pastor!

I moved to Colorado in 1991. My pattern has always been to find a few good friends and stick with those guys. In San Diego I was close to a neighbor named Daniel; in Virginia I met Wally (and later Alex); and in Colorado I met Chris, Tom, James, Book and Baggs. I'll stick to first names and nicknames to protect the innocent.

In Colorado, I pretty well latched onto one group of great guys, made a few additions in college and law school, and haven't looked back. We all went to high school together (except Baggs, who I met at CU) and have remained tight for many years. Just Friday night, four of us sat down and discussed how we all met and talked about some of the good old days.

Things change with time. People move, get married, etc. Chris is studying at Seminary School in Iowa and stopped by for a visit. He stayed at our hotel (i.e. basement) while in town for a wedding. As usual, he had a busy schedule, but I managed to grab hold of him for a few discussions.

Chris passed through town this weekend. You can find his musings by clicking on the "ganglylove" link on this page. I met Chris not long after moving to Colorado from Virginia and he and Tom were the first two friends I made here. I originally intended to create a "mutual post" in a conversation format, but it just felt better having one of our usual conversations and trying to summarize it.

You might say that I sat down with Chris for an impromptu interview Sunday night. My notes are scattered, but I attempt to reconstruct it the best I can. The rest I will summarize from memory. My dad always told me I made good decisions in picking friends, and I always took that as a big compliment. I have the greatest group of friends a guy could have and thought it would be fun to give the reader a taste of what we talk about and how we interact.

Chris is my Guinea pig.

Chris is in the second of three years for Seminary School and will be a full-fledged pastor when it's all said and done. Unfortunately for us, we're not sure he'll ever live close again. But, we hold out hopes.

ON COLORADO AND FRIENDS

Can we expect you back in Colorado?

"I don't know. As far as permanently, No. I hope I can come back, but to pin hopes and dreams on that is not reality. I like that I am in a place in life where my life is an open door. "

You don't have many reasons to come back here locally now that your mom is in Arizona and your dad is in Denver. I don't imagine we'll be seeing you too many more times for these visits.

"Someone once said that the family you are born into is there to prepare you for the family you eventually become a part of. I think we spend most of life with the community we surround yourself with as adults. I have grown to consider my friends like family. I always love spending time with close friends from my life."

You think that even though I used you for your car in High School? I mean, I needed a ride home and you were convenient.

"Hey, I used you for your video game system (Sega Genesis). You think I would have given you a ride if you didn't have a video game system? You think I'm that nice?"

Not really. Afterall, I had to worry whether your piece of junk would get me home in one piece. What kind of car was that anyway? I mean, it had a coat-hanger keeping the muffler on.

"It was a Grenada. 1981 Ford Grenada. The clothes-hanger was probably from 1993."

Some find it weird for high school buddies to stay so tight for so long. Thoughts?

"Most people meet friends for life in college. For me, I went to college at home. Tom, Dave, and James were still around... still close. That's probably why none of us made too many college friends. Although you were tight with Baggs and he's kinda become like the 6th Beatle. It was kinda instantaneous with him."

You were social butterfly in high school.

"I was never all that popular. I had 2 or 3 distinct groups. I helped lead James over to you guys. I had various groups of friends."

ON HANGING OUT / WORK

Free rides for video game fodder, that was a good deal for me.

"I will always remember 'Barkley for three!' (NOTE: video Charles Barkley beat Chris at the last second with an inconceivable three-pointer that sent Chris to the floor with grief circa 1992). We also played a lot of Joe Montana Football and Goldeneye. Those were some real fun times. I loved the 'one shot, one kill' settings on Goldeneye."

Your mom probably wondered what happened to you in those days.

"Mom always wondering where I was. She spent a lot of life wondering that. She worked and I worked."

Speaking of which, it was you who got me my job at KFC.

"Will you ever forgive me for getting you a job there? Then again, you owe me for getting you a job there. You owe me, because if you hadn't gotten a job there you wouldn't have that little guy on your lap there (little Jacob). You wouldn't have met that wonderful wife of yours."

I don't know if you remember, but you were taking me to a Rockies game when I first saw Jen. We stopped at KFC for free drinks for the road when she served me a Pepsi. I had worked at KFC the previous summer and was getting ready to start that summer (1995) as well. I made note to find out more about the cute one who fixed my drink. You gave me the 4-1-1. My first question was, 'how old is she.'

"I knew she was an engineering major at CSU."

I was secretly happy that she was in my age range because she looked possibly too young. I was glad she was my age.

"As opposed to the 17-year-old you asked for the under-12 buffet?"

Yeah, you will never let me live that down! That girl looked 12.

The pranks were the best there.

"I still remember throwing the roto-bird to you. 'Joe, go deep.' April (the manager) was so relieved when you caught it... until you spiked it on the floor."

Do you still do pranks at Seminary?

"I took the doorknob off a friend's door, turned it backwards and then was able to lock her in her room. But, she had actually done me a favor earlier that I wasn't aware of at the time, so I felt bad about that one."

"She got back at me by putting Rainbows and 'Just Married' on the windows of my car when Me and Ryan were going to drive to Colorado. We cleared that off before leaving."

ON SEMINARY SCHOOL

How has school changed the way you think?

"It has challenged the way I think, but given me a lot of answers to why I believe what I believe. It takes the blinders off of my faith. Also, it's helpful to learn of the history and how the bible was translated."

Has the process changed any beliefs?

"I know there has been some change, but can't say exactly what off the top of my head. I have a deeper feeling that community is more important now than before. Communal faith as well. Specifically First Corinthians."

NOTES

As usual, our conversation took many other turns after I stopped taking notes. We talked about how we have all changed and grown and how each of us have gone through a variety of life experiences.

We talked about how life is like a movie; how fun it was for the others to try to get me to drink when I was dead-set against it; how none of us made any of the parents nervous or suspicious and just how much fun it was growing up together. It was fun to look back on that and to once again talk into the wee hours about life. I never get over new perspectives on old memories. Chris' theory about my loosening up was that I finally learned to "come out from your dad's shadow." Only tight friends can make such observations.

Chris likes to say he'll always have a lawyer, and I think I've found my pastor. So, I guess you could stay, we're still just using each other. First it was video games and beat-up cars, now professional services. Can't beat it.