Choices

Martin and Blake's friendship survived a twenty-one year roller coaster before jumping the tracks and coming to an inglorious finale. No one was to blame. It was just one of those things brought about by miscommunication, hurt feelings and two more friends were cast into the canyon of friendships past.

Why?

Why did this happen?

Their friendship had survived the test of time.

In 1979 a trip to Disneyland had ended in disaster. Martin and Blake had planned to go with their friend Krista and a friend of hers from out of town. Martin had assumed that the out of town friend was a blind date for him. When Krista came down with the flue he naturally assumed that Blake would be the "third wheel". What Martin was not aware of was that Blake and Krista's friend Lori had already met. A mutual attraction had already developed. All parties involved assumed that Martin was aware of the situation. He was not. Blake and Lori were lost in each other and oblivious to Martins feelings. They had a wonderful time and were unaware of Martin spending the night fighting back tears. He had been the third wheel one to many times and this time he was really hurt.

Once they had returned home. Martin called Blake and in no uncertain terms ended their friendship. Blake tried to apologize now that he was uncomfortably aware of the damage he had caused but Martin would have none of it. The two of them did not speak for several months. Until Blake heard through the grapevine that Martin had broken his ankle in a rock climbing accident. Blake swallowed his pride and called Martin to ask if there was anything he could do to help. Upon hearing from Blake, Martin realized that ending a friendship over a girl he had never dated was not very wise. He invited Blake over and they spoke long into the night repairing the damage to their bridge of friendship.

Several years passed and their journey through life went rather smoothly. They were always there for each other. No matter the time, day or night, it did not matter. All it took was the ring of the phone and one was always there to provide aid to the other.

Their friendship was interrupted once again when Blake got married. Martin was the best man at the ceremony and proud to be standing before the guests Blake's side. Martin and Rebecca, Blake's bride, however never got along. As their marriage progressed she slowly drove a wedge between Blake and all of his friends especially Martin. Blake was oblivious to the growing distance. He was happy. He was in love. Before long he had a son. His world was perfect or so he thought.

One day Blake sat down and took stock of his life. He began to realize that he was living a life that isolated from everyone except Rebecca. Not only that Rebecca's family hated him and did all they could to instigate problems between them. The worst part though was that Rebecca never came to his defense. Finally despite the love he had for his son Blake packed his bags, walked out the door and attempted to rebuild his life.
Most of his friends had moved on. Some were married. Others had moved out of the area. But not Martin he was still there and still as loyal as ever. He never said anything about what happened. Their friendship picked up right where it had left off hardly missing a beat.

Several times over the next few years it was Martin who was dependant on Blake to be there to pick up the pieces. For a while it seemed as if Martin had a permanent case of heartbreak. Just has Martin's heart would heal from one breakup he would fall in love again only to be kicked in the gut once more. Many nights Blake would awaken to the sound of Martin quietly knocking on the door in need for someone understanding to talk to. Blake would listen and Martin would cleanse his heart and soul of all the fear and pain he was carrying around.

In the mid-eighties Blake's father passed away after a long illness. He was having a hard time dealing with the loss but Martin felt he had the perfect solution, a blind date. Blake was not interested in dating he just wanted to wallow. Martin insisted though and before he knew it Blake was looking into the eyes of his future.

Blake was gun shy after his first disaster of a marriage so he did not allow himself to fall to hard to fast. It was obvious to everyone else though that when Blake met Kelly his bachelor lifestyle was over whether he realized it or not. Blake was able to postpone the inevitable but eventually he gave in to fate and they were married.

No one was happier for the new couple than Martin. Especially since he had been friends with Kelly before introducing her to Blake he knew she would not come between them.

Blake and Kelly's marriage was as smooth as silk. Martin and Blake's friendship seemed to have settled into a comfort zone that would last until they were two old men sitting in rocking chairs in front of some old age home.

Alas it was not to be.

Martin was also friends with Kelly's sister Teri. The four of them spent quite a bit of time together. In some circles it was assumed that eventually Teri and Martin would fall for each other, however the time never seemed to be right.

Several years after they were married Kelly's sister Teri developed a series of illnesses. Teri spent the next year being visited by a parade of doctors with various specialties. She had one surgery after another. As her various medical problems grew worse Teri withdrew into a shell. Before long she only wanted to be visited by her immediate family and no one else. It was part of her defense mechanisms in action. The less people visited the less she was required to face the seriousness of her situation.

There came a time when Teri's primary doctor gathered the family for a serious discussion. Teri had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and he needed to discuss treatment options. Once the doctor left the room Teri asked her family including Blake to promise not to tell anyone. She would tell whom she wanted when she wanted. She specifically asked Blake not to mention one word of her illness to Martin.

Of course this put Blake between a rock and a hard place. Martin was his best friend and Teri was family now. However in his heart he felt Martin would understand. A promise is a promise and Blake had always prided himself on keeping his word.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

Teri's mother accidentally let her diagnosis slip out when she ran into Martin and his mother at the grocery store. Martin immediately called Blake demanding an explanation. Blake was honest he had made and kept a promise. The same way he had kept promises for Martin over the years. He tried to explain to Martin that it was Teri's illness and that she had the right to disperse the news as she saw fit. It was all to no avail.

Blake and Martin began to drift apart. Issues that in the past would have been nothing became stumbling blocks. The final straw came when Blake was unable to attend the funeral of Martin's grandmother. The funeral conflicted with one of Teri's cancer appointments. Blake had become Teri's advocate for all of her treatments. No one in her family really understood all of the issues and were to emotionally upset still to discuss treatment in a professional manner.

Blake understood that by missing the funeral he was risking the end of his and Martin's friendship. It was a risk that he was prepared to take. He did not mean to be harsh in his opinion but Blake felt that this was a time where his family had to come first. So he missed the funeral.

The day of the funeral marked the end of their friendship. They spoke a few times afterward but it was never the same. They both had said things that they probably regretted and now the bridge was broken and most probably beyond repair.