Al and I met decades ago when we were both students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and living in the International Co-op with thirty something other people, mostly students. It was a three-story house that looked like it had been two houses glued or cemented together and had its beginnings in the late 1960’s. All residents paid rent and signed up monthly to do household chores like cooking, cleaning, shopping, doing accounting and a sundry of other activities to keep the house functioning.
The house is located near the corner of Gilman Street, just couple of streets from State Street, and well within walking distance of the University of Wisconsin campus, which made living there super convenient. There were many a day, I left the house with just enough time walk to class just before the professor began talking!
I FELT LIKE A FOREIGNER
Moving to Madison from southern California, I felt like a foreigner, and was slow to acclimate to new foods, colder temperatures, cleaner air, and midwestern social norms. Al, a native Wisconsinite, moved to Madison from a smaller city and experienced fewer adjustments. He was accustomed to Wisconsin beer, brats, lots of cheese, football fans, and bar fanatics.
Our differences did not impact our friendship or the amount of time we spent visiting and sharing ideas and insights. When asked his opinion, Al was patient, allowing himself plenty of reflection time before speaking. Al wasn’t about to allow others to influence his thinking.
AL TRUSTED HIS INNER GUIDANCE
At the time, I had no way of knowing that Al trusted his inner guidance to navigate and guide him. Reflecting on our days living in the International Co-op, Al often seemed to live in another world. He stared out in space as though he was pausing and waiting before speaking. I never knew why he took his time until decades later when we spoke.
He moved to Oregon, and became a licensed acupuncturist and practiced in Corvallis, Oregon. I learned from a fellow co-op member that Al was living in Oregon. I called him and talked for a few minutes. We were both busy and did not have much time to talk. I told him that I would call him back, and I never did for several decades.
IT TOOK A FACEBOOK MESSAGE
It was only after a fellow co-op member, Eric, reached out to me on Facebook that I contacted Al. Eric and I talked for forty-five minutes about co-op living in Madison, and how our lives had changed since those days of communal living and attending college. Eric mentioned that he heard from Al’s co-op roommate Hugh that Al was still living in Oregon.
I wasted little time in looking up Al on Google. Sure enough, he had been living in Corvallis. I called him and got his voice mail. It was the same voice that I remembered from years ago. I left a message, and Al called me back several days later. I was unavailable to take his call so he left me a message giving me some options when he would be available to talk. I did choose a time to call him, and reached him, and enjoyed a thirty minute phone visit.
AL MOVED TO MEXICO
We talked about our cherished memories of co-op living and how we both have taken some of the philosophies of communal living and integrated it into our philosophies of life. Al lived in Oregon for many years before recently moving to Mexico after closing his acupuncture practice in Corvallis. He wanted a new adventure and moved out of the country.
Al told me about the year and a half that he moved back to Wisconsin before returning to Oregon to attend acupuncture school. He was having trouble deciding whether to spend time with his aging parents. Al told me that he looks for signs to guide his decision making, trusting that he would be guided. He told himself that he would take a walk outside and look for a sign to appear. He had been outside walking when he saw a car with a Wisconsin license plate which is a rare occurrence! (I can attest to how few cars with Wisconsin license plates I see in Portland and can imagine that living in Corvallis, which is smaller than Portland one might see even fewer!)
Al took that as a sign to move back to Wisconsin which he did. He spent a year and a half with his aging parents who passed away while he was living in their city. Al was happy to have spent time with his parents and his brothers during the very last months of his parents’ life. Al is grateful for the day that he took a walk and saw the car with the Wisconsin license plate!
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