Jonathan Meyer.

Living a double life is something I have become very good at. That statement may come off a bit promiscuous but I promise, a negative connotation isn’t the intent. Being a college student, correspondent, and lawn care technician comes at a price, that price is constant motion.

Moving around can get pretty lonesome and doing everything alone isn’t exactly ideal. With that being said, I have been blessed with some fantastic friends along the way who make my adventure through this thing we call life so much more interesting.

My friend Matt is perhaps the most interesting person I know. An avid collector of everything, devout family man, and an excellent mower, Matt can do it all. Originally meeting through work, our bond was noticeable immediately. Despite our age differential, over 15 years apart, we connect on a deep level.

During the summer our magical mowing duo is in full force every week day along with the occasional dinner and a stop at some garage sales. While I’m back at school, Matt and I are in close contact and still see each other fairly regularly.

While not out and about working, my roommate Chris has become another one of those fantastic friends. Both of us are on the cross country team, but we come from different backgrounds. Chris hails from California, a hop, skip and a jump away from Iowa.

Our friendship started with a text early one morning last year. By sheer coincidence I had woken up early and was looking through social media at an ungodly early hour. After a few minutes of scrolling, Chris texted me looking for a ride home from the emergency room, an unrelenting stomach bug had sidelined the Californian (you can fill in the blanks if you so choose). Off a pure whim a beautiful friendship was formed. Two runners, musicians, and less than serious dudes, meshed all too well. Ending up as roommates for this school year.

Remember those fairly regular visits with Matt, I mentioned earlier? One of those visits happened this past weekend, allowing my worlds to collide. Matt and Chris, two friends who occupy my spare time and keep me sane while committing to way too much, joined together for a few minutes. A crazy crossover that I had never really expected in my life. Two people who I view as unlikely friends were together with me in the same room.

The conversation was brief but covered the essentials: food, family, the cross country season, work. After 10 or so minutes Chris and I left Matt’s place and continued onto our planned adventure, seeing a production of Beauty and the Beast.

A fairly lighthearted and frankly unimportant visit really resonated with me for some reason. The whole situation made me truly appreciate how lucky I am to be surrounded by incredible people. No matter how unlikely the relationships I’ve made are, I would never trade them for the world. A big thank you to Chris and Matt for dealing with my fast paced way of life, I wouldn’t be who I am without you guys.

Until the next unlikely friend comes along, I’m Just Jonathan.