Friday, August 03, 2012

Catching Up

It's been awhile since I have last posted on my blog. I've been taking a little break during the summer months. I just haven't felt as if I had many things to write about it. Ok, there are always things to write about and discuss. But, I guess I was just waiting for something to inspire me to write and in order to do that, I had to live and let life provide the inspiration and it has.

A few weeks ago I was in Denver, Colorado attending an annual conference. But, prior to the conference, I had the opportunity to visit with two childhood friends Brian and Mike. Brian resides in Denver and Mike graciously flew to Denver from Utah for our impromptu reunion. I like to say Brian, Mike, and I have a special bond and I think they would agree. A little background regarding the three of us: We all moved to same neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia during the summer of 1984 and became friends shortly thereafter. Brian moved from North Carolina, Mike from California, and I from Delaware. We come from three different ethnic backgrounds, we attended the same high school, and Mike and I were college roommates all four years of college. We have lived across the U.S. and the world, we have attended and participated in one another's weddings, going away parties, baby dedications, and other milestones. We have also been there for one another for whatever life has thrown our way. So, here we were, together again in the same space, the last time this happened was 12 yrs. ago and how did we commemorate this not so often occasion? With a lot of smack talking as the three of us like to do. We pretty much  hung out on the various pieces of furniture throughout Brian's home, throwing a football around, and catching up. We discussed politics and our ideologies, our families, our parents (and the influence our parents and the families in which we grew up have influenced us and how we raise our own children), the future and the legacies that we hope to leave, finances, people that we grew up with, the old neighborhood, high school, opportunities seized, and future opportunities to be seized. The conversations were hilarious, provocative, and at times eye-opening. It was great to see how the three of us have evolved and changed and continue to do so and how in some ways we have remained the same. Our short lived reunion lasted about 24 hours and much ground was covered. This visit, as with past ones, strengthened the bonds we have and whetted our appetites for future reunions. Thanks, fellas!

From L-R: Me, Brian, and Mike (Mike's not one for too many photos, hence him reviewing the menu.)



1 comment:

Unknown said...

No doubt you'll be surprised to find me, of all people, commenting on your blog, Ryan. Or not ;)
The older I get, the more I too value people who "knew me when" . . . This summer I saw a dear friend for the first time in eleven years. He was my BMF (best male friend) in high school, and even though he moved to Nashville immediately after graduation and we've had few opportunities to meet, the years fall away immediately when we do.
He's a highly placed music industry executive now and could have entertained me for hours with stories of the celebrities that he works with, but our conversation was about more mundane things ~ both of us lost our mothers last year, we both have sciatica (talk about a condition that makes you sound OLD), we both laugh when we think about singing Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of our lungs on the way home from school, we remember fondly the evenings we spent at his parents' local radio station, recording advertisements and playing requests for our friends, and of course we always have to rehash the night we drove into the ditch . . .
That's the kind of friendship that can sustain you through a lifetime of infrequent meetings. I'm so glad that you and Brian and Mike have kept your friendship alive and vital, Ryan. And I'm glad that in twenty or thirty years I too will be "someone who knew you when".