Love at Twilight

This Sunday, if my back can agree to a fairly long motorbike ride (a fairly big 'if'), I will attend a wedding party out in the boonies somewhere for my friend and former next door neighbor, Vyt Karazija. 

This was a bit of a surprise wedding--having already taken place a couple weeks ago in Java--for Vyt is 72, has been on his own for a long while, and has been known as a bit of a hermit (like me). But hey, I guess this stands as a testimony to the power of love at any age. 

Vyt and I first became acquainted when we were both writing for the (now defunct) Bali Times newspaper. The Bali Times was a publication in English and aimed mainly at the expatriate community. We wrote front page editorial columns concerning life in Bali, politics (local and international), culture shock, travel, and so on. Sometimes the editorials would be humorous, sometimes humorless, depending on how we were feeling that particular week, I suppose. In reading Vyt's columns, I soon grew an admiration for his intelligence, his sharp wit, his thorough grasp of his weekly subject. 

Later on, when Vyt found that he would need to move from his place in Kuta, I referred him to the empty house next door to mine, where, as it turned out, he lived for about two years. We would often see one another coming and going, and enjoyed many pleasant conversations over the top of the low law that divides the houses. We agreed on some things, disagreed on others, yet consistently maintained a civil, respectful manner with one another. We also shared a mutual relationship with Sparky, the dog, and both felt his intelligence to be far superior to our own. 

Vyt likes to pretend to a hard, grumpy manner, but of course no one who knows him is fooled by this. In truth, he is one of the kindest men I have ever known, always ready to help, always ready to show concern and compassion. I once told Vyt, somewhat tongue in cheek, that he was the best Christian I had ever known--which made my friend, an agnostic leaning toward atheism, gasp with indignation. Lol. But he got over it straightaway.