A little over a week ago as I walked through my kitchen I received a chime on my iPhone4.(useless plug) I had been notified of an invite to my good friends birthday party. This was to be held at a wonder French Bistro in an older part of Orlando. As I read the Facebook invite and walked to my bedroom to tell my wife, I was struck with a warm feeling. A feeling of happiness that we were thought off as part of their inner circle.
Now we do a great deal with this couple and have called them friends for the better part of four years, as couple. The wife has known the birthday girl much longer through various social circles, pre-facebook CRAZE! With this type of longevity you come to expect that you will be invited to important events in each others lives. Birthdays, weddings, dinners, BBQs, babysitting your oldest child as you welcome the newest into the world. These types of events, the kind that life time memories are built, the kind that define you in your adult years.
I was still pleased that we would be together will a group of friends, talking, laughing, eating and drinking. Catching up on the happenings in our lives. I knew that it would be a great dinner with a great company.
(fast forward 10 days)
The birthday dinner was upon us. We were the third couple to arrive and were greeted by our host with a warm hugs and smiles, status quo, I expected nothing less. Words were exchanged, others arrived with more hugs and hang shakes. 20 or so minutes later all were in place in a very cozzie atmosphere. Drinks and food were ordered and everyone settled in. Our hosts treated all of us to a very important announcement. Early in the day they had visited the OBGYN and found out the sex of their unborn baby. IT"S A GIRL! was pushed from her lips and we all cheered as if we were at a sporting event. Everyone was happy and congratulations flowed in their direction. The evening wore on we ate and drank, laughed and shared stories. Life was good for all at the table. A newly married couple sat to me left. Two expecting couples sat across from me. A soon to have their second baby any day now couple sat at the other end and a newly minted we are in love couple sat across from them. So as you can see all in attendance were in a good place.
Friends...how many of us have them? I have them in spades! I shared in all of their lives and they in mine. We have grown together with the families additions, advice about child care, birthday parties in Vegas, 1st, 2nd and 3rd birthdays for our kids. No envy, no ill will just smiles and back slaps, hugs and kisses. This is the evolution of our friendships and our lasting memories. I look forward to building on the foundation we have all started and I thank god that I am able to call others my FRIEND!
So true. I just had a moment like that picking up Jones from camp. The bigger kids were doing something and I knew that Jones is modeling them right now and come the day he'll have his chance. And when it's all laid before you like that, you think, "Here we are. These are our people. This is our tribe. This is who we are." Bask in it. You and your wife built that.
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