Hula Hooping

my friend and former coworker
robert
sends me a text
hey, remember that video i took of you
where you're in the aisle
hula hooping
and talking about wanting to commit suicide?
i just found it
 
robert and i became friends
when we worked at a for-profit university
we enjoyed helping students
but were bored with admin
at a glance 
he and i had nothing in common
he's 20 years younger  
among other differences in checkboxes
 
but early on
he sent a silly email:
"how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck...?"
 
i quickly typed back
"chuck off"
and a great friendship was born
 
it's a silly friendship
my favorite ones are
but a supportive one too
he gets my sense of humor
he gets that my humor sometimes deflects sadness
he gets that i've been through a lot
in the twenty years
i have on him 
 
robert has attached the aforementioned video
do i want to watch it?
sure, why not
 
there i was
effortlessly hula hooping
clearly having fun
but turning dark suddenly
yes,
talking about suicide
before spinning in circles
while hula hooping  
to see if i could
 
i could
 
it's been eleven years
i've seen robert through hard times too
we make each other laugh more than ever
 
i can still hula hoop
thank goodness for that
 
i need to remember
to do it more often