Catch & Release

A good friend gifted me this book for Christmas, and it is more than the gift of a book. It's a story that will stick with me. It's premise seems like that of many other feel-good stories: an unlikely friendship between a have and a have-not. But the story of how Denver and Ron changed one another's lives is truly remarkable.

I don't often stop and think about what all goes into acquiring the trust of another. But Ron and Denver's story brings this important human venture to light. It is the stuff of everyday interactions, and yet it seems we hardly stop to think about it. Denver had no reason to trust Ron, but he offered to, under one condition, "If you is fishin for a friend you just gon' catch and release, then I ain't got no desire to be your friend. But if you is looking for a real friend, then I'll be one. Forever."

The ways in which Denver goes on to display his loyalty and affection moved me to tears more than once. Not only is their friendship unlikely, but their bond becomes indestructible. Their story reveals the truth that we are more often than not the "same kind of different" as one another, rather than what our fears of trust would let us believe.

You owe it to your friends to read this one.