Written Sept 23, 2013.
There are very few people that I have met personally that I see travelling the same road that I am. No. That’s not right. I think we each have our own road. However, I mean people whose road runs parallel to mine. Each of us with our own obstacles, speed bumps, diversions, and eventual run from the cops (figuratively speaking, completely figuratively), but whose direction is the same as ours, whose goals are the same as ours, and whose geography (metaphorically speaking) is the same as ours.
I’ve known such a person, a Rennaisance Soul, for 12 years. Last night I was able to meet him for the first time.
I first met Jon Luvelli back in 2002 when I answered an online ad for a programmer, though at the time we lived on opposite sides of the county. Back then I was relatively new to the contracting scene (only 5 years in the industry) and was eager to work from home doing what I enjoyed. It did not take too long for Jon and I to have long conversations about different business ideas we had which progressed into discussions in philosophy and psychology.
Like all things, it didn’t take too long until we stopped talking. The contract was done and we followed our separate focuses. For a year that is. And then he contacted me with something else. And on it went, we’d talk, we did our own thing, we’d talk, we’d do our own thing. Each time, though, the time that went by, however long, seemed instant, and we would pick up where we left off.
It’s hard to point out in a business relationship the exact moment a friendship forms. But one day you realize that’s what it is.
Last night, I happened to be in Columbia, Missouri for a Masonic Grand Lodge meeting, and I was out in the town with a couple of my friends from my local lodge. I casually texted Jon to ask where he was and to let him know that I was at a specific business downtown.
Who would have thought he was across the road from me at that moment?
12 years we had worked together, shared ideas and struggles, and when I crossed the road, I was not seeing him for the first time, but meeting an old friend.
When I first met Jon in 2002, I thought he was only an and a graphic artist, with serious talents in both.
However, when I finally met Jon in person, he was following a passion he had held reclusive from the public for many years; and that was photography.
Specifically, street photography, something I had previously not heard of. So, off we went. I felt a little remorse at bailing on my friends but special circumstances dictated that I spend the evening with Jon and Tiffany Gambino who have been together for almost as long as I’ve known him.
I followed Jon around the streets of Columbia as he did his thing. Something that I was completely unfamiliar with. Connecting with every person whose path he crossed at some level. Like a sculptor who makes small changes in the clay to make a beautiful design, Jon works in personalities. The camera, and the fact that he takes pictures, is completely secondary. What he does is make people smile. He gets people to leave their comfort zones and immortalizes that moment with a photograph.
During our walk around the streets he took me to a phenomenal coffee shop where the three of us spoke for a bit about everything and anything.
And out we headed again. The alleys were amazing. The amount of people out studying in coffee houses at midnight on a Sunday night was extraordinary. Jon’s energy for doing what he loved was endless.
The night was filled with personalities. Every person from every background. At one point later in the evening, Jon started an impromptu song to some girls across the street. Had I done that, I know the cops would have been called within minutes, but when Jon was done his rendition, one of the ladies curtsied and continued walking.
That was the way of it. All night. An artist working his canvas. And it was a privilege to be a part of that.
