As I continue to reflect on the things in my life I’m grateful for, it’s not a big surprise that the undeniable top of my list is a whole series of people. It’s the people in my life who have shaped who I am, and who continue to enrich my experience in this mortal coil.
So today, I want to give a shout out to all my friends. Yes, all of you. There have been so many over the years. From back in college…
(Don’t ask about that one. It’s a long story.)
… to the amazing people we met in Colorado …
… to the hundreds of ultimate players who have passed through my life:
And then there’s this guy.
Dirk and I met sometime around fifth grade (that photo is probably eight years later) and we were besties before besties were a thing. I’m thrilled to say that today, some thirty-five years later, we’re still besties. To paraphrase a song, “some last a chapter, some just a page”. Well, Dirk’s a novel.
And let’s not forget the rest of the high-school gang. Back in the day, we were the Magnificent Seven, and we still are, even when there are only five of us who managed to cross the country to get together for a week in the summer:
It’s pretty cool to be friends with people over the span of decades.
The other day, I was talking to the kids about our upcoming Christmas cards, and I mentioned that our mailing list this year will include almost 350 people. They replied, “I don’t think I even know that many people!” And those are just the friends who I can still track down to send a card. To name the thousands of people who have crossed my path would be a blog post of terrifying length.
To all you yahoos reading this, and all you yahoos who don’t even know I have a blog, here’s a huge thank-you for being my friend.