How Lucky We Are In Our Friends

Nearly one year ago, my girlfriend and I broke-off our five year relationship and it was a painful time, to say the very least.  We'd been planning on getting married and had been engaged for almost two years, but somehow things just didn't work out for us and that's how life goes.  It's taken me a while to come to a good place with it all and I can honestly say that I feel okay with my decision to leave her.  She and I had gone through a tremendous amount of life, given our short time together... a year of flirting, a move to New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, ten months in Austin, three homes in three different cities...all in the space of five years.  Pretty remarkable and yet, even though our paths forced us to separate, I feel good with having only memories of my time with her.  I am finally at peace with it all and I know my old friend is living her life on her own.During our breakup, my mind was all over the place and seeing as I was having to find a new place to live and money was very tight, the first thing to go was my gear and any extra I had lying around.  It proved to be a good decision in most cases and I was able to put together enough for a deposit, as well as first and last months rent to help me get the new digs.  No big deal.  I still had plenty of drums to go around and nothing was important enough that I was sad to see it go...that is, except for one item in particular...a Craviotto snare.  The day I let this one out of my hands was a very melancholy afternoon and I felt awful the moment it left the room.  The person who purchased it from me however, is a very close friend and made the promise that should I ever want or need this drum back, he'd happily return to me at the same price he paid.  Of course, at the time I said NO! that is silly and it's your drum now, don't worry about it, etc, etc.  Well, to be honest, I have missed that drum like you wouldn't believe and even tried to buy an identical one recently but ended up returning it cause the sound just wasn't the same.  This drum, call me crazy, is special and has an amazing vibe to it.  I've never heard another one like it in all my years of playing and I've owned quite a few snares.Anyhow, the other day I asked my good friend if it might be possible to borrow the drum for a couple of days cause I had a recording session and he happily obliged, no questions asked.  I went and picked it up, brought it into the studio and WHAM!  Immediately, everything lit up...my Rogers, my Agop cymbals, the other cats in the band, everyone was suddenly aware that things were different.  Even the producer came walking in the room inquiring about the drum cause he could hear how differently it sounded than my other one and I knew that I somehow needed to get this snare back into my arsenal, but it wouldn't be easy.  He and I have given away and traded things to one another for years, but I knew how happy he was when he bought that drum from me.I rely on my friends a lot and if anyone ever needs anything, I try my best to be there for them.  But lately it seems as though my buddies have been showing up at my side just when I need them the most.  As difficult as it was, I figured there wasn't any other way around it that was gonna be easier than just asking him for it.   When I made the call, he happily relented with a smile on his face.Sometimes we make mistakes and sometimes things come back to us.