paulo

You'd have a hard time calling me wealthy. I'm not hungry, but I'm certainly not rolling in the dough either. Several years ago when I was singing for a living our group recorded a live set and I was documented there saying something like, "We feel very wealthy having so many good friends. Just know we may need to trade some of you in on a bus payment one day." (Maybe you had to be there.) But I still feel rich that way.

Several years ago I made a new friend from Brazil. His name is Paulo, and he'd already been around the world a time or two before he settled in Lexington, Kentucky. He's one of the most fun and interesting friends I have.

There's a gigantic old sanitarium in Louisville that is supposedly honest-to-goodness haunted. During the fright season it is opened up for tours. It's a popular attraction and the wait to get in is sometimes three hours or more. This past Halloween Paulo and Zac and Ronnie and I decided to drive over and live a little. I didn't know until then how jumpy Paulo was. All you had to do was say, "Hey Paulo." When he'd say, "What?" You say, "Boo!" He jumped every time. By the time he survived the haunted hospital he was a sloppy bag of nerves.

I don't know how many languages he speaks now since he's always learning new ones. I do know he could probably walk down Main Street Disneyworld and hold an intelligent conversation with just about anyone from anywhere. And as versed as he is in a variety of languages, he's just about as familiar with all of the cultures that go along. I take that back. Actually, he's probably experienced, first-hand, more cultures than he can actually speak the language. That's really saying something. I think he told me once that there is only one continent he has not set foot on and that's just because he didn't think about packing his long underwear.

I like talking to Paulo. His English is good, but he doesn't mess around with peripheral words. He speaks directly and sometimes it's a blast just listening in when he's talking to someone, especially someone who is just meeting him. When Paulo says something really astounding and the other person says, "Oh, shut up..." instead of, "that's amazing," Paulo just shuts up. There's a certain cuteness to the naivetee that sorta reaction generates.

The really neat thing about Paulo is his value of friendship. As much as he travels, and with all of the things he gets to see and experience and taste, he often tells me and his other friends here at home how much he longs to be here where we are and be a part of our conversations. Of course, when we're talking and he's in London or Australia or Saudi Arabia, we're usually talking about him. When he comes home we want to hear about his travels. He wants to know what we've been doing.

Today is Paulo's birthday. Last I heard he was in Brazil visiting his family. I sent him a text message this morning and within a minute or two he replied. I don't know how old he is, but he's experienced a lifetime worth of neat things already. Happy birthday my friend!!