George and I are great and close friends, we are more alike than I realized or than I might have imagined. We are both surrounded by clutter, we are both obsessed with creativity, it is a faith for us, we both draw chaos like sugar draws flies. A touching thing this week, I went off to Cincinnati hurriedly, I didn’t get to talk to George for two days.

Last night, Donna Wynbrandt, George’s partner and lover called and left a message on my answering machine, she said George was worried about me, he hadn’t heard from me in a couple of days and he wondered if I was all right. He would never bother me by calling himself, she said, but she wondered if I could just let him know I was okay.

The call touched me, and I realized the depth of our friendship. George and I talk at least once a day, sometimes only briefly but it is as important to me, as it is to him. I called George first thing in the morning, he was already in his darkroom, I could tell he was relieved to hear from me, he said he was worried that he was a bother sometimes, he was not sure. He was grateful for the call, he said, he never wanted to be a bother but he was concerned about not hearing from me.  I told George our friendship was the greatest of gifts to me, it was never a bother to talk to him or hear from him, I missed him also, it was his way of telling me that he loves me, and my way of telling him that I love him in return.

Difficult for two strange men like us to communicate about that and in that way, but we did it. I often underestimate the power of love, it is one of the most precious things in the world. Men rarely speak of their love and concern for one another, I am grateful George reminded me just how much we love and care for one another.

George is like a brother to me, I am grateful for every minute of our wonderful friendship and i am reminded to make that as clear to him as it is to me.