A few nights ago, I had the privilege of meeting up with some of my good friends that I had met and worked with in the early 1980’s. Bill, Frank, Keith, Rick and I, met for dinner and drinks in the beautiful Distillery District of downtown Toronto, just a beautiful area quite close to the waterfront along the Queens Quay.
The Distillery District is an area that I just love, named after what used to be the old ‘Gooderham and Worts’ Distillery back in the 19th century and there sits some of the most beautiful older buildings. This area has been built up so beautifully, surely the work of the most talented and thoughtful individuals. Just a magnificent job bringing this area to life again.
So as I was driving to downtown Toronto from our house, I thought to myself, how special it was, that us 5 group of friends, had put this time together in our lives and were all heading to meet up, some of not having seen each other for years. As I drove down, I was thinking about different incidents on the job, that we all had while working, the laughs, the experiences that helped to shape who we are today.
Here I was in the parking area, not nervous at all, as this group of guys were and still are, very close friends, loyal and true to our bond of friendship. We met at the restaurant, hugged, laughed and smiled and it was real. The bond of friendship was still there and I never for even a second, expected anything less. Even through life getting in the way after all these years, the ups and downs of each of us coming to light, our beautiful families had kept us happy and given us the strength to keep going and we all seemed the same. Maybe we had been winged by one or two not too nice events, but we all were very happy sitting at the table, with the years that had rolled by. If truth be told, there were a couple times that I was thinking about a very tiny tear in my eye, a tear of ultra happiness, but I got through with many hard out laughs getting in the way.
At the end of the evening, when we were all heading out to begin our journeys home, I had to mention to everyone, as we were all in our 60’s. I remarked that somehow, us older gents, had managed to get through the evening without anyone talking about their ‘Doctors’, to which we all broke out laughing one more time. For we all had seemed in pretty good shape, looked well, possibly thanks to the facts that we were all athletes in the early days.
I hope these guys live for many more years to come, I hope they continue to be happy in their lives, as I do all of my friends. This was a very special group of guys, worth meeting up with often, worth speaking about and worth always remembering.
I strongly recommend everyone to pickup up the phone and call someone that means so much to you.