So none of us are as engaging as the kids from the movie ‘The Breakfast Club’. We have no Molly Ringwald or Emilio Estevez or Judd Nelson. It seems like we’ve got plenty of Anthony Michael Halls, though. But there we were the other night at Zatinya; former colleagues breaking bread and catching up with one another. It really is a stark change from the old days. It used to be when I would organize things it was expressly to go out and get so shit faced that i would end up horking in a bush somewhere. These days we’ve reached some level of maturity. Truthfully, nobody wanted to go out and get shitfaced after dinner.

These are good people and very good friends; people that I really care deeply for no matter how trivial it may seem. What’s more is that I think that they appreciate what I do and have done for them and that really means a lot to me. When I used to work for another contractor eons ago, we almost had the same type of vibe going. I still keep track of those guys every now and then, but this group is definitely different. I hope to be able to maintain these relationships for as long as possible.

Eating the mezzes (yet another word for “tappas”) was an adventure in itself. It seems as though everyone enjoyed choosing from the variety of mediterranean inspired offerings but, when the time came for the food to be served, everyone forgot what they ordered. Oh, the joys of playing roulette with your food! “Is that mine? I can’t remember? I think that is mine.” Oy. In the end we all just started mingling together after dinner. Our table was out of the way and situated such that when we were done we could mill about and chat. Unforturnately, Sam and his contingent left before we could get pictures with them.

When it ultimately boils down to is that it is very, very easy to let people go. I’ve had it happen to me. People that you thought you would be good friends with dropped you like a burdensome weight, ignore your presence and make you feel like reaching out to them is fruitless. Which is why I surround myself with the people that I care about; people who are genuine and willing to put for the effort to keep in
contact.

Will I do this again? Of course! I’ve been tossing around the idea of doing this twice a year. Who knows?
I may invite more people in the future. Until then I’ll be happy knowing that we’ll see each other
again sometime.

Oh, and if you’ve read this far into this post: Paintball on March 11th!